The Jesus Life
Starting Your Day With
Jesus LIFEstyle Series
Jesus knows what life is all about. He is offering to join
you in your life by providing you with the provisions
and procedures that He lives by.
By Mel D Westbrook MBTh
Starting Your Day With Jesus Lifestyle
Series
The Book Introduction
Version: 25.10.5
Using The
Truth/Prayer Pages
Jesus will be
teaching you a truth then lead you into praying for that truth. Each page has power truths and power
prayers. Today read about the purpose of
Power Truths. Then, tomorrow read about
the purpose of Power Prayers. From then
on, you will read three Truth/Prayer Pages each day for five days. Please read the purpose of Power Truths
today. NOTE: This is a five-day program;
you skip Saturday and Sunday.
The Purpose Of "Power Truths"
Week One Day One
What Is Your
Original Purpose?
This
introduction is used in all the "Starting
Your Day With Jesus LIFEstyle Series" studies and prayers. If you have read this
introduction before, it may seem repetitious. But, it is vital that you stay aware of where Jesus is taking you
and what you are doing to get there.
What kinds
of people are you having to deal with every day? Do you find that, as a Christian, it hard to
do what Jesus wants your relationships to be? With the kind of people you have to deal with, how does He expect you to
treat people with unity, truth, compassion, fairness, and love? How do these things work in business, dating,
marriage, a family, or with an enemy or adversary? How do you take what you learn in the Bible
and apply it to the way you live life? How do you do it in such a way it actually empowers you to succeed in
life in a better way than ever before? You and Jesus will be able to solve these issues together here.
Does The Bible Help With Your Life?
Have you
ever read a requirement in the Bible, and wondered what would happen if you
applied it to your business or a relationship? What would happen to your business or your friends if you went around
just telling them the truth? It can look
like you would be a lot more successful if you mainly concentrated on your
needs, likes, preferences, and interests. To start loving others and concentrating on their needs, can appear to
hurt your goals, plans, and future; but, it actually enhances them. Wisdom from Jesus will make the
difference.
What makes
you win in life? What causes people to
want to be around you? Why would someone
want to do business with you, marry you, be your friend, or stop being your
enemy? What kind of a person would you
need to be to win at life and it make you and those around you happy. What is Jesus, the truths of the Bible, and
Christianity offering that would make your life so much better that you wish
you had lived that way all of your life?
Did You Know There Are Two Lifestyles?
There are
two approaches to life; one involves dishonesty and the other involves
honesty. One involves selfishness and
the other involves love. One involves
goals that end at death and the other wins now and in eternity. One involves loving things and using people
and the other involves loving people and using things. One involves following the teachings of the
world and the other involves following the teachings of Jesus. The thing about these two lifestyles is, one
abuses people and the other blesses, helps, befriends, and cares about
people.
Would You
Like To Grow With Jesus?
What if you
are already too busy to add one more thing to your life? What if you already have a full
schedule? What if you are already doing
as much as possible trying to have a relationship with God? Why would you add something like this to your
busy schedule?
It's true
you can't just stop your life to let Jesus teach you. But, would reading and praying over three
pages a day really be that hard? Rather
than a simple "thought for the day" or some self-help concept, what if Jesus
took you into steady, continued growth in your relationship with Him? What if He took you into incredible
principles and taught you how to succeed at everything you do? Studying a truth and then praying and asking
Jesus to put it in your life is a powerful way of making your life so much
better than it has ever been.
How Is The Bible Relevant To Your
Every Day Life?
What about
your life? Would you like Jesus to teach
you how to succeed in a business, a marriage, a family, a career, or your
life? Are you willing to let Him help
you grow in your relationship with Him? Have you ever considered how wise Jesus is? What would happen if you included Him in all
the decisions of your day? He will help
you think of incredible things that will enhance your plans. You can simply read and pray through three
pages a day for five days a week and Jesus will help you learn how to walk and
talk with Him all day long.
What about
your happiness? Have you ever thought a
certain thing or person would make you happy and it didn't? Have you ever got something that made you
happy for a while and then it gradually lost its excitement? How would you like Jesus to guide you into
those things that bring true happiness that lasts for a lifetime? How about starting your day with
happiness?
What Is
Your System For Life?
What is
life all about? Jesus and the Bible are
like turning on the light in a dark room. Most people are trying to "feel" their way through life. They are trying to imagine and guess what
life is all about. They find themselves
going down dead-end paths, running into obstacles, and falling over things they
weren't able to see. Jesus is the light
of the world. He illuminates the issues
and circumstances you face so you can see and understand what you are dealing
with. This is called truth. On each page, you will be letting Jesus teach
you a truth and then empower you to pray and invite Him to put it into the
attitudes, character, and behavior of your life. That is worth the little time it takes to
read and pray three pages a day.
Do You Know
What Causes You To Win Or Lose?
What about
your success? Did you know there are
certain areas of your attitudes and character that are causing
you to win or lose at life? These two
things are Jesus' priority. He knows
that if you have bad attitudes, you will fail. How is your character? You may
feel like your attitudes and character are pretty good. Have you ever dealt
with a person who seemed to be unaware of their faults? Their people-skills were poor; but, they
didn't seem to know it. It is difficult
for us to see our own faults. Jesus will
lovingly and gently help you improve.
Who do you
like? Do you like those who are trying to use you to get what they want? Do you like those who lie to you so you will
meet their needs? Do you like those who
will cheat you, if they think they can get by with it? Do you like those who talk down to you
because they think they are superior to you? Improving your attitudes and character are how Jesus helps you treat
people the way you like being treated. When they find out that you are real and trustworthy, it becomes much
easier for them to be around you. Jesus
wants to teach you how. Win/win
relationships are all about doing to others what you want them doing to
you.
Your Team
Jesus'
people are praying that you are blessed in a special way. They are praying that you have a close
relationship with Jesus.
People Are Praying This For You:
Eph 1:16-17
(NIV) I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my
prayers. I keep asking that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit
of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.
Eph
1:18-19a (NIV) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened
in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the
riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably
great power for us who believe.
Eph
1:19b-21 (NIV) That power is like the working of His mighty strength,
which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at
His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power
and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age
but also in the one to come.
Below is a
Personal Assessment Worksheet. Please
prayerfully fill it out before you start your next study and prayer. You will be given another one at the end of
the book. This will give you a chance to
see any changes in your personal assessment.
My Personal Assessment Worksheet
Version 25.10.2
Please answer
these questions so as to get a feel for where you are at this point in
time. Space has been provided for you to
write down those things you want to put under each question. If you need more space, use the back or a
separate sheet. Print as page 5.
1.
What are the things that are bothering
you the most?
2.
What goals have you set up as being
the most important accomplishments for your life?
3.
What plans have you put in place that
are now influencing most of your decisions?
4.
What kind of circumstances have come
your way that have shaped a lot of your life?
5.
What relationships have you
established that are major contributors to the way you live?
6.
Are you happy with the way you are
living?
7.
Are you satisfied with the way your
life is heading?
8.
Would you like Jesus to help with it
all?
This
concludes your reading and prayers for today
The Purpose Of "Power Prayers"
Week One Day Two
Living Life For A Purpose
How Do You Turn
Information Into A Lifestyle?
If you were
a hoarder, you would fill your house with all kinds of things. They may be very useful; but, you would have
forgotten why you obtained them. Working
on your lifestyle is about using what you learn, and living
life as God gives it to you. This keeps
you from just "hoarding" a bunch of information.
Let's say
you got a degree and was licensed as a professional. What if you worked at a fast-food place,
getting minimum wages, while getting your education, degree, and license? But, suppose you kept working as a fast-food
worker after you paid the price, learned the information, earned the degree,
and were licensed to take advantage of your training. You didn't make the changes in your lifestyle. Jesus' methods keep this from happening.
What Makes Jesus' Truths Different?
Have you
seen people going on a strict diet, lose a lot of weight, but later gain it all
back? They didn't make dieting and
exercise a part of their lifestyle. Your
lifestyle is permanently changed by you "doing what it takes" to
get where you need to go so you can continue living there. By exposing yourself to Jesus' principles,
you develop a lifestyle.
How can
Jesus take three-page chapters and turn those principles into a new lifestyle
for you? First, He helps you understand
His truths. Then He helps you ask Him to
put those truths into your life by providing you relevant prayers based on
those truths. Plus, He helps you be
thinking about what you studied and prayed about. All during your day, He helps you see how you
can use His principles in your daily life.
How Does
Jesus' Life Help Your Life?
A baby goes
through many stages in becoming an adult; they try to pattern their life after
adults. If they saw how much smaller, weaker, and untrained they were, they
might get discouraged and not try. You
have been born again; this time you were born into the family of God. You started out as a spiritual infant. As a
beginner child of God, you are to become a mature, trained, adult child of God. Jesus will help you grow into all these
things.
Jesus is
your pattern for adulthood; But, you must see Him as your example. Jesus is the Creator of the universe; He is
God; of course He is able to do what He did. As a spiritual beginner, you may see how small, weak, and untrained you
are; you may not be willing to try. You
may not know you are to be a spiritual adult someday by following Jesus'
examples and training. Jesus can get you
ready to live in God's Kingdom by helping you now.
What Is Jesus Trying To Teach You?
If a baby
doesn't innately know the reason they have a small version of an adult
body, they won't develop properly. They
must desire to watch, practice, grow, and gradually learn how to live life as
an adult. You are never going to be God;
but, you are a child of God; you are to watch Jesus, practice, grow, and
gradually learn how to live life as a spiritual adult. Jesus IS God; but, it is still His
desire to show you how to live His adult, Jesus-life as a child
of God.
You were
born as a human so you could have a body and a life to be trained with. It is a limited life because your attitudes
and character haven't been developed to a place where you can be trusted with
supernatural, God-sized power. If you
yield to Jesus' training, your attitudes and character will be developed
properly. Then Jesus will gradually
give you opportunities to work together with Him. He and you will be able to train and help
those around you to experience Jesus' power and truths in their life.
Are You Ready To Learn How To
Live The Jesus-Life?
Ask Jesus to help you understand vital truth issues. Like in the rest of these things in this
book, spiritual understanding only comes from Jesus. If you read and understand these things, you
can be sure it is because Jesus is empowering you to understand. If you read and don't understand, all you
have to do is ask Jesus to help you understand. If you pray and still don't understand, then ask Jesus to help you bring
it back up when He is ready to explain it to you.
John
3:3 (NIV) In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see
the kingdom of God unless he is born again." You know what human
birth looks like; it is a small version of a human, starting out for the first
time on this planet. They usually have
all the physical equipment, but, don't know how to use it or take advantage of
it. They have a lot of growing to do
physically, mentally, spirituality, and in experiences. They have a long way to go to be an adult
human; but, they seem to have the desire, hope, and determination to get the
job done.
You were born again; your second birth made you God's
child, a member of His family, and a citizen in His Kingdom. Now you need to allow all of this become a
reality in your heart and mind. You know
you have been born into it. Now allow
Jesus to help you know the other things you need to know.
2. Know
You Are Born Again For Eternity
1
Pet 1:23 (NIV) For you have been born again, not of perishable seed,
but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. Being born again is different from being born as a human. The human "seed" of your parents produced a
life that is perishable and heading for death. You do all that growing physically,
mentally, and in experiences; but, if you aren't born again, you lose it all at
death. Being born again through the
"seed" of God is imperishable; you live
forever. But like human birth, you have
some growing to do; you start from spiritual infancy and mature into an adult
child of God.
3. Trade
Your Human Life For Jesus' Life
Gal
2:20 (NIV) I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. The life I live
in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave
Himself for me. If you want to, you can spend all your time
learning how to succeed as a human. If
you do, you will forfeit your eternal Jesus-training. As an untrained Christian, you will enter
into eternity with very little spiritual skills, abilities, experiences, or
training. Your opportunities will be
extremely limited. However, even if you
only give Jesus a few minutes of your time each day, He will use it to help you
succeed now and for eternity in many ways.
As a child of God, you have some growing to do. Jesus will help you learn to live in the
spirit realm where your Father lives. As a new born-again beginner, you don't know much about this new
realm. But, Jesus provides you examples
through His life and teaching. He will
teach and show you what an adult child of God looks like. It will take a lifetime to learn; but all
of it will work now and last for eternity. Let Jesus show you how to trade your life for His.
4.
Trade One Lifestyle For Another
John
14:12 (NIV) I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I
have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am
going to the Father.
What if a
young child didn't see their parents as someone they were to pattern
after? What if they thought they could
never be like them? That is what happens
to a lot of Christians. They don't
understand the lifestyle Jesus is trying to give them. Yes, Jesus is God; but, He lived His life as
a human, spiritual adult. He did it so
you can accept His lifestyle as yours.
5. Trade
One Inheritance For Another
Rom
8:17 (NIV) Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and
co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His
sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. What if you see the Bible and Jesus' life as not have anything to do with
your life now? How would it affect your
life if you knew your life now was influencing your eternal inheritance? What if you found out that you could be
making investments in eternity by living a certain way here? Did you know that your success here affects
your success in eternity?
6. Appreciate
Your New Birth And New Inheritance
Now
if we are children, then we are heirs: What did you
inherit when you became a child of God? 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 (1 John
3:2). Just like a human child will
automatically grow up looking a lot like their parents, there are parts of you
that are automatic in Christian growth. But, there are skills, knowledge, experiences, abilities, and training
your parents have that you didn't get.
7. Take
Advantage Of Your New Birth And New Inheritance
Now
if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ:
Not all of Christianity is automatic; a human baby
inherits their characteristics from their parents. But, what they do with them is up to
them. That is the way Christianity is;
you inherited God and His provisions. That is automatic; but, what you do with all this is the next big
issue.
You aren't here just to learn how to live as a
human, you are mostly here to learn how to live as a spirit being. You are to let Jesus use the things you learn
about living as a human to teach you about living as God's child. You have applied yourself to learning a lot
about being human; and, you have applied yourself to learning how to
live as God's child. Now it is time to
start living as a child of God.
If you need
a drink, you have learned how "to do what it takes" to get one. If you need to chew some food, you know how
to do it. If you need to pick something
up, you have learned the process of accomplishing that. But, do you know how to hunger and thirst
after righteousness? Do you know how to
"chew" spiritual truths? Do you know how
to move spiritual issues from one place to another? Learning how to walk in the Spirit, digest
God's truth, have eyes and ears that can see and hear what Jesus is teaching,
is what you are dealing with now.
A Prayer
For You To Always Pray For Yourself And Others
Jesus'
people are praying Ephesians 1:17-23 for you. It contains such vital requests before God that it has converted into a
prayer for you and those around you. As
others pray it for you, please join them by praying this modified prayer for
yourself and your friends.
I keep asking that the God
of my Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give me the Spirit
of wisdom and revelation, so that I may know Him better.
I pray also that the eyes of my
heart may be enlightened in order that I may know the hope to
which He has called me, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the
saints, and His incomparably great power for me, who believes. Jesus, help me see, know, and understand the
hope, the riches, and this power.
That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He
exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right
hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and
dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but
also in the one to come. And God placed
all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the
church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills everything in every
way.
Jesus, I ask that I would receive a
full revelation and vision into all this power that is available to me; and, I
ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
It would be good for you to pray
this prayer for yourself and those around you regularly.
This
concludes your reading and prayers for today
"The Jesus Life" Truth/Prayer
Pages
Version: 24.10.2
Week One Day Three
Chapter One
Living Victoriously
How Do You Live What You Have Learned?
The Power Truth words and the Power
Prayers in the blue paragraphs have two different objectives. You read the Power Truths to learn
Biblical principles; you pray the Power Prayers in the blue paragraphs to live
them; this is called asking. Mat 7:7 (NIV) ASK and it will be given
to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened
to you. These are "The
Three Keys to All of Christianity." They empower you to grow in a
close and intimate relationship with Jesus. They help you get everything He provides. These Power Prayers are a life-exercise; they
take the Biblical principles from the Power Truths and invite Jesus to start
them flowing in and through you.
Jesus, I need all You have to offer; help me use Matthew
7:7 to get these things. Help me
learn them, as I go through the Scriptures in the Power
Truths. Then let me use these Power Prayers to ask You to apply them to
my life. Help me realize that these are
the Bible studies I need so I can start living the Bible and taking advantage
of all God's truths.
How Do You Apply The Truths To
Everyday Living?
We have all read things, studied
things, learned things, and then forgot them, or, just never used them. After intense exposure to certain principles,
you get excited, impressed, hopeful, and inspired. But, after a few months, you go back to the
way you have always lived. Your
old lifestyle, habits, procedures, and systems take back over and you don't
change all that much. Seek and you
will find is telling
you that there is a power-to-live available.
Jesus, my whole reason for
learning the Bible is so I can live it. Help me use it in my moment-by-moment, issue-by-issue decisions of
life. Help me learn how to seek
so I can keep moving forward in my journey of victorious living. Empower me to learn how to apply all of it to
my lifestyle. I believe that if I
seek I will find the truths that
set me free.
What
Does It Mean To Yield Your Life to The Truths
John 8:31-32 (NIV) To the Jews who had
believed Him, Jesus said, "If you hold to My teaching, you
are really My disciples. You must "do what it takes" to not just hear
what Jesus has to say; you can't just learn
what He teaches; you have to learn how to hold
to His teachings and not let them go. You must allow them to be a part of you so you can live out the transformation, miracles,
blessings, and healing they offer. God
has given you The Three Keys To All Of Christianity help you yield to these truths.
What
Did Jesus Mean When He Said To "Hold To"?
"Hold
to," means you get
power to live Jesus' teachings. Jesus will show you how to hold
to His teaching, making you really be His disciple. Jesus' teachings aren't just
information; "Hold to" isn't Him just trying to inform you. And, it means you can't use your experiences,
talents, skills, training, and abilities to hold
to. Jesus' teachings
must empower you to hold to. They must give you a new way to
live. It does what you could not
do for yourself. You apply them by asking. You believe that if you ask it will be given to you.
How
Do I "Do What It Takes" To Hold to Jesus' Teaching?
John 8:31-32 (NIV) To the Jews who had
believed Him, Jesus said, "If you hold to My teaching, you are
really My disciples. Then
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. You are now
ready for taking the steps into being free.
Step One (This is typically accomplished in the Power Truth studies)
Then you will know the truth: First you must seek to know
what Jesus' truths are.
1.
Jesus, help me seek to get
to know what Your truths are.
2. Help me seek by studying these Biblical truths with great
intensity.
3. Help me pray the right prayers as I seek for Your truths.
4. Give me Your faith so I can believe I have what I have been
seeking.
5. Help me yield to God's love so I can seek with a true heart.
6.
Help me move into the "lifestyle" Scriptures in the Power Prayers so I
can take the next step of living
them. I
believe that when I seek, I will find.
7. Give me a thankful heart for all the wonderful things You are doing for
me.
And the truth
will set you free: Just knowing
the truth doesn't set you free. Jesus doesn't say, Then you will know the truth, and knowing the
truth will set you free. He says: "The
truth will set you free." Then you
will know the truth is step one of two steps. First, you must know
what the truth is; then you must ask
to yield to that truth so it can set you free. So, after you have been seeking the Bible
principles to get to know what the truth is, you are now
ready to ask for them in the next step.
Step Two (This is accomplished in the
Power Prayers)
And the truth will set you
free: Then you must ask to get the freedom from Jesus' truths.
1.
Jesus, help me
desire to be set free by the truths You have shown me.
2.
Help me learn how to be set free
by Your truths through studying Your Bible.
3.
Help me pray the prayers
that will set me free to succeed in life.
4.
Give me Your faith for each truth
You have shown me so I can believe I have this freedom in my own
life.
5.
Help me yield to God's love
so I ask for freedom for the right reasons.
6.
Help me pray through the "lifestyle"
Scriptures in the Power Truths so I can take faith-action on the next
step of living on the basis of this freedom.
7.
The help me appreciate all You do
for me and be thankful for it.
1.
Ask
Jesus to Empower You to Give Freedom A
Chance
Doing the above two steps with these special keys isn't the end of it. It is true God just gave you His power from
those two steps; but, there are a lot of truths in the Bible. You must do this truth-by-truth, and
issue-by-issue. AND, you will be praying moment-by-moment
throughout your day. It's a lifestyle
not an all-inclusive, sudden, once-in-a-lifetime provision.
Jesus, as I am exposed to Your Biblical principles, help me not just read and move
on. Let me apply them each day. Lead me into getting Your freedom from
them as I use study (seek) and prayer (ask). Help me learn to stop and pray until I feel
Your presence and power flow into my heart and mind. Give me the patience to wait on You until I know
You have given it to me. Let me feel
Your transformations in my heart.
2.
Ask
Jesus to Empower You to Develop a
Freedom Lifestyle
"Lifestyle"
isn't just
a study; you will need a spiritual exercise; but, you will read Scriptures at a
much slower pace. You won't just know the truth; you will be set free by Jesus' truth. To know the truth happens at a much faster
pace. But, living these truths and
being set free by them, will require you to slow down and allow them to
do their job.
Jesus,
help me find every truth in Your Bible; help me know it, understand it, and
then learn what it is going to take to apply it to my life. Help me be willing to allow that truth to
change me in ways that I may not totally understand. If I feel a truth is going to do something to
me that I won't like, help me understand why I need that change. Then help me allow it to make that change. I want to be set free by Your truths; You
know what is best for me.
3.
Ask
Jesus to Empower You to Take the Faith
Steps
You are
seeing how "The Three Keys To All Of Christianity" work; you are applying them to
yourself. You will take the Scriptures
in the Power Truths and apply them in the Prayer Pages. You will take out time to ask
God to make them a part of who you are and
what you do. You will see incredible results in your daily
life, because you aren't just reading and moving on.
This concludes your reading and
praying for today.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Two
The Three Keys
Week One Day Four
How To Benefit From The Three Keys
1.
Ask
Jesus to
Teach You How to Use the Three Keys to All of Christianity
Mat
7:7 (NIV) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and
the door will be opened to you. Just like you have to reach out your
hand and grasp something in order to pick it up, you have to ask, seek, and
knock to get certain things in the spirit realm. The
Three Keys have the concepts of asking or praying and seeking or studying
in them. Jesus will show you how to use
them separately and how to couple them together.
2. Ask Jesus To
Help You Know The "Ask" Key Is The Most Powerful And Important
Jesus concludes His instructions in
Matthew 7:7-11 with the statement: If you, then, though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him (Mat
7:11)! The Bible tells you in James 4:2b (NIV) You do
not have, because you do not ask God.
3. Ask Jesus To
Help You Understand Your Permission Based Relationship With Him
As was said before, God won't do
anything for you that you don't give Him permission to do. And, you can't make Him do anything without
His permission. God waits for you to say
you want something before He considers giving it to you. After you have indicated you want it, then
He decides whether or not it is the very best for you and those around
you.
Jesus, because of my God-given free will, asking,
seeking, and knocking are my first moves toward You. They tell You what is my true desire. Empower me to pray the Scripture: But
seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well (Mat 6:33). Show me that
ask invites You to give me Your Kingdom and Your righteousness. Help me see that this is the way all the
other Scriptures are activated.
4. Ask Jesus To Protect Your Free Will
Jesus,
not everyone honors my free will; Satan tries to force his way into my
life, help me "do what it takes" to keep him from it. Some people to try force their will on
me, empower me to stop them. Sometimes governments
try to thwart my God-given free will, if they are powerful enough; help me
cooperate with You and keep them from it. But, also help me know that You always honor my free will with a
fierce and determined commitment.
5. Ask Jesus To
Help You Understand That Free-Will Requires Invitation
Jesus, help
me see that my God-given free will requires me to invite You into
everything. Help me understand the
principles of James 4:8a (NIV) Come near to God and He will come near
to you; show me that I must make the first move. Empower me to learn how to respond to Matthew
11:28 (NIV) Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Show
me that You are waiting on me to come. You are waiting for me to start "doing
what it takes" to get the freedom and provisions; help me do it.
Rev 3:20 (NIV) Here I am! I stand at
the door and knock. If anyone hears My
voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with
Me. You are learning how to open the door. This is why things don't happen to you
just by wishing, wanting, or waiting. God
is waiting for you to make the first move. And, He is waiting on you to make the right
first move; that involves righteousness. Your first move has to be a righteous first move.
6.
Ask
Jesus To Help You Understand That Power
Requires Righteousness
There are
people who have money, possessions, positions, power, popularity, prestige,
pleasure, and accomplishments. Here are
the kinds of people who have them:
There are
people who are willing to lie, cheat, steal, mislead, and hurt people
because they don't have righteousness (Romans 1:16-32); they do what they do on
purpose.
There are
people who are just learning how to live on the basis of righteousness but are
struggling with it, they hurt people but not on purpose (Romans
7:15-25).
There are
people who are starting to get breakthroughs in their lifestyle, and are
succeeding with righteousness in various areas of their lives but not all
of them (Philippians 3:12-14).
There are
people who are applying The
Three Keys and are succeeding with
righteousness more and more each day (Matthew 7:7-12).
Jesus, only allow me to get involved in Your power in
those areas where I have breakthroughs in Your righteousness. Transform me so I don't use Your gifts and
power for wrong, bad, or evil purposes. Take me into the areas that are good for me and those around me. Show me how to work together with You; let
good gifts and power flow from You into me. Give me Your righteousness; because that is the only way for it to
happen.
7.
Ask
Jesus To Help You Ask , Seek, And Knock For
Only Doing Good (Righteousness)
If you start off using The Three
Keys To All Of Christianity for those things God considers good, then you
will immediately experience victory through them. You have to
understand what your problem is with getting what you need from
God. You have to learn what it takes
to be able to work together with your heavenly Father. If you don't know what works and what
doesn't, you will always be struggling in your relationship with Him. The Bible makes God's requirements clear;
but, you can't just learn them, you have to learn how to live them. Learning truth doesn't set you free;
living truth sets you free.
Jesus, it has been hard for me
to understand all the requirements placed on my God-given free will. The world didn't understand my God-given free
will and couldn't help me understand it. But, since I am with You; show me that I will be using keys and
principles that tell You this is what I want. Help me learn how to have my God-given free will but still be getting
Your permission. Help me stay within
Your will while using my free will.
8.
Ask
Jesus To Set You Free From Using Human
Effort To Get Your Needs Met
Let's take a look at a person who
is trying to get their needs met the typical but wrong way.
James 4:1-3 (NIV) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires
that battle within you? You want
something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. you do not have, because you
do not ask God. When you ask,
you do not receive, because you ask with wrong
motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Jesus, help me learn that The Three Keys are
very powerful and results-producing. Let them keep me focused and heading
directly into Your will and purpose. Let
them help me make the first move when I ask, seek, and knock. Empower them to help me ask, seek, and knock
for the right things, the right way, and for the right reasons.
9.
Being Set Free From Human Procedures
And Efforts
1. Jesus help me ask, seek, and knock for the right things, the right way, and for the
right reasons.
2. Help me seek so I can ask and knock based on the truths of
Your Word.
3. Help me ask with the right prayers so I can seek and knock based on Your Will.
4. Jesus, give me Your faith so I can believe
I have Your power to ask, seek,
and knock in faith.
5. Help me yield to God's love so I am empowered
to ask, seek,
and knock based on a love that fulfills 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.
6.
Help me move
into the Scriptures in the "Lifestyle" Power Prayers so I can
take the next step of living based on the fact that I am asking, seeking, and knocking for a
transformed life with You.
7. I now thank
You Jesus for giving me this wonderful breakthrough in my life.
This concludes your reading and praying for today.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Three
Did You Know You
Have a God-Given Free Will?
Week One Day Five
1.
Ask
Jesus To Help Your Will Only Desire Good Things
Mark 11:24 (AKJV) Therefore I say unto you, What things
soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you
receive them, and you shall have them.
Jesus,
help me see that desire is the first requirement for me having those
things I need from You. Show me that
desiring good things brings my will into unity with Your will. Prepare my heart for victory in life by giving
me the desires that cause me to want what you consider to be the very
best for me and those around me.
2. Ask Jesus To Help Your Will Only Want
Eternal Things
1
John 2:17 (NIV) The world and its desires
pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives
forever.
Jesus, reveal to me that eternal life
involves a change in my desire. Help me
see that those things I wanted, that were only good for this temporary life,
are to be exchanged. Give me desires
that get me things that not only benefit me now but also benefit me forever. Show me that I may end up with many of the
same things; but, if I do, I will end up with them for an
entirely different purpose by using an entirely different method.
3. Ask Jesus To Help Your Will Only Seek
The Righteous Life
James
1:19-20 (NIV) My dear brothers, take
note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to
become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life
that God desires. If you
haven't consulted God, you move into an area of easily frustration. You drive to "make things happen;" you "make
up your mind;" you try to "defeat the opposition;" you "force your way to the
top;" you "believe you know what is best;" and you "don't let anything get in
your way." These angry, frustrated,
impatient, and self-asserting attitudes don't take you into the righteous
life that God desires.
4.
Ask
Jesus To Help Your Will Only Desire To
Live Honorably
Heb 13:18 (NIV) Pray
for us. We are sure that we have a clear
conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.
5.
Ask
Jesus To Help Your Will Only Desire The
Truth
2 Tim 4:3 (NIV) For
the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their
itching ears want to hear.
Yielding To The Holy Spirit's Will
Rom 8:5 (NIV) Those
who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what
that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the
Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
1.
Ask
Jesus To Help You Willingly Respect God's Abilities
Those who live according to the sinful
nature have their minds set on what that nature desires: You may not
willingly have a bad desire; it may just be something you think will
make you happy. You may want something
that doesn't have any bad moral or sin aspects to it. It may be something you think God
would feel okay about you desiring. YOU
may look at it and believe it won't hurt anyone. The Bible may not speak against it in any
way. It may appear to you to be
completely harmless. But, it may do a lot
of damage to you in the long run.
2. Ask Jesus To Help Your Will Be Based
On Faith And Trust In God
Those
who live in accordance with the Spirit: Jesus, set me free from faith in my opinions. Show me that it causes me to want things
based on what I think. Empower me to
know You are my best friend, You know what is best for me, and You only do good
things. Let this knowledge help me be
willing to live in accordance with the Spirit. I can't want to yield to Your work if I
don't know how good, faithful, loving, kind, and gracious You are.
3. Ask Jesus To Help You Be Willing To Have The
Right Mind-Set
Those
who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set: Jesus, I know that this isn't me
making up my mind to always desire the right things. Help me apply The Three Keys To All Of
Christianity. It is my will to get
my mind set by asking You to set it. Bring this kind of spiritual condition into me. Help me not ignore The Three Keys by
looking to myself for "making up my mind." Please set my mind on Your Spirit.
4. Ask Jesus To Help You Be Willing To Have
The Same Desire The Holy Spirit Has
Those
who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what
the Spirit desires: This
is you being willing to find out what the Holy Spirit wants you to
want. Rather than desiring something and
then trying to get God to do it for you, you seek to learn what God's
Spirit wants you to desire. Then you ask
Him to help you be willing to desire it. This makes you one who lives in
accordance with the Spirit.
Jesus, help me be willing to
get my mind set on what the Spirit desires. Give me Your power to resist any opposition
that tries to change my will. Put Your
will in me that is so powerful that nothing can push me off track. Make it so that pressures from my "friends,"
those who have authority over me, circumstances in life, and my own body aren't
able to change my will or mind-set. You
are empowering me to be willing to desire what the Holy Spirit desires because
I am asking You to. You helped me see
how important it is.
5. Constantly Ask Jesus To Help You Be
Willing To Have The Right Desires
God gives
you the right to choose your path all day long. You may pray to be willing for one thing but not pray for another. God's plan involves a relationship and a lifestyle. Each and every thing you face all during your
day has to do with your will. If all of
a sudden you make a "snap judgment," that is your God-given right. Mind-sets and desires are all subject to your
moment-by-moment, issue-by-issue choices and decisions. As a part of every decision in your day, you
decide whether you will make it with God or without Him.
This concludes your reading and praying for today. Start Chapter Four next week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Four
Where Did You Get
Your Education?
Week Two Day One
How To Get The Truth
2
Tim 2:15 (AKJV) Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that
needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
1. Ask Jesus For The Goal That Sets All
Your Training Goals
Study
to show yourself approved to God: There are things you know that will
only apply to this life and will soon pass away. There are things you know that Jesus doesn't
agree with. And, there are things you
are learning that will help you succeed now and in eternity. If, from now on, you study in such a way that it is to
show yourself approved to God, then you will only major in those things
that help you win now and all the way into eternity.
Jesus, I want to have the knowledge
You want me to have; I want to get an education that is beneficial for me and
those around me. And, I want to be
taught those things that will be beneficial now and in eternity. Help me devote myself to learning those
things that will influence me in the right ways. Help me set goals that influence me into the
right information. Guide my studies so
that Your knowledge and training will set my standards.
2. Ask Jesus For Truths That Are Better
Than All Other Information
Study
to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed:
When
you make mistakes, wrong decisions, go in the wrong direction, or hurt yourself
and others, because you are a true Christian, you become ashamed of it. It is
embarrassing for you to realize you didn't do the right thing. You realize you were wrong; others see how
wrong you were; and God sees why you were wrong.
Jesus, give me training in life and in
eternal life; let it take away the shame and embarrassment. Help me accept the Bible as my steps into
victory. Let Bible study keep me from
being ignorant. Let it help me know the
truths that set me free. Let it explain
what I need to do to follow Your leadership. Let it open the doors to getting the things I need from You. I am a person who knows a lot of worldly
information through study; but, typically I have studied many of the wrong
things. Empower me to put the priority
on learning the Bible so I can be a person who is guided by You into Your
truth.
3. Ask Jesus For The Right Meaning So You
Will Have The Truth
Study
to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth: What if you read: "And my God will
meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Phil
4:19)." and you interpreted it to
mean God will make you rich? You would
base your life on a false principle that sets your goals, designs your plans,
and structures your life in a direction that takes you away from God. The Bible will only work for you if you get
God's true meaning.
Some people do study the Bible, but, end up with
wrong conclusions. This is caused by bad
desires and motives; they want the Bible to say and mean certain
things; so, they twist and reinterpret what its true meaning is. The Holy Spirit will tell you what each
Scripture means.
Jesus, if I don't like what a
Scripture says, help me not ignore it or change its meaning. Help me be one who
is "rightly dividing the word of
truth." Let the interpretation come straight from the Holy Spirit. He alone knows what Your intentions were when
You caused it to be written. Help me
realize that the only way I am going to get the truth is to ask what You
meant. And to seek the truth from
that Scripture.
John 5:39-40 (NIV) You diligently study the
Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about
Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.
1.
Pray That You Will Do The Right Thing
You diligently study the
Scriptures: Jesus teach me that the objective for study is to get the correct
information. Show me that I have the
Scriptures so I can have the truth available to me. Make it clear that You want me to study the
Bible so I can know the truth and have the truth set me free. If my objective is not the same as Your
objective, I will study for wrong reasons. Heal me of any agendas buried deep down in my heart that are
misleading.
2.
Pray That You Don't Do The Right Thing
For The Wrong Reason
You diligently study the Scriptures
because you think that by them you possess eternal life: Jesus, You
desire to provide me with eternal life. Your purpose for me studying the Bible is so I can know how to get
eternal life. Teach me that study isn't
all I have to do have eternal life. Show
me that studying the Bible the wrong way, or, studying it for the wrong
reasons, keeps the thing that would have led me into eternal life from doing
it.
3.
Pray That You Get The Right
Information
You
diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you
possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify
about Me: Jesus, convince me that all the answers are right in
front of me, when I study the Bible. Give me faith to know that nothing is missing in the Bible, and that
everything I need is there so I can win at life here and win in eternal life
later. Show me that You haven't withheld
any information, instructions, principles, or truths from me. If I miss out on truth and the freedom it
brings, it will be because I messed up. Help me know that The Three Keys To All Of Christianity can keep me
from messing up.
4.
Pray That You Don't Get The Right
Information And Then Reject It
You diligently study the
Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about
Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life: Jesus,
protect me from getting the right information, but, not wanting to hear
it. Protect me from diligently studying
the Scriptures looking for the right thing and not finding it. You refuse to come to Me to have life:
Protect me
from getting the truth and then rejecting it. Help me see that went I reject a Scripture I don't like, I am rejecting
a part of You.
5.
Pray That You Get The Right
Information And Accept It
Luke 18:17 (NIV) I tell you the truth, anyone who
will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never
enter it. The attitude of "most" little children is one of
accepting the fact that they don't know most things. They ask questions with an open mind and open
heart. They trust people and allow them
to teach them the answer to those things they need to know. Jesus is saying that is the vital attitude
for entering the Kingdom of God.
You have a heavenly Father Who can
be trusted completely. You know He knows
a lot more than you do; you know He knows exactly what you need
to know. But, if you don't use your
God-given free will to ask Him, He won't tell you. And, if you don't ask Him to help you accept
it, He won't do that either.
Jesus, You caused
the Bible to provide me with the truth. Let me study it and be exposed to what the truth about life and eternal
life is. Let me study it, be looking at
those truths that have the power to set me free, and then ask for that
freedom. Empower me to listen to the
Holy Spirit and yield to His influence. Help me let the Spirit interpret it and then empower me to live it. I give up all my human efforts, knowledge,
skills, and abilities, so I can have You and all Your efforts, knowledge, skills
and abilities.
6.
Pray That You Have A Seeking Type Of
Bible Study
Mat 7:7-8 (NIV) Ask and it will be given to you; seek
and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks
finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Seek and you will find: seek sets the
passion, the intensity, and the hunger for the truth. When you ask with the influence of the
seek key, you don't ask casually; you ask
passionately. When you study with the
drive of seeking, you only want the truth of the matter. Through it you have sincere questions; you
have deep concerns; you have intense desires, and you have honest
pursuits. All you have to do is make a
note of all your questions, concerns, desires, and pursuits. Then when you find a Scripture that addresses
one of them, you embrace it with sincerity, depth, intensity, and honesty.
Jesus, teach
me that studying without a hunger for answers is boring; show me that studying
without seeking specific answers to specific needs is just a ritual. Help me realize that only when I study with a
seeking attitude does the Bible and Bible studies come alive. Let me do the kind of study that brings
miracles, healing, blessings, help, and transformation to me.
Now, create your own prayer that
includes The Three Keys To All Of Christianity. See if you can
develop them into a prayer that gets God's help with you studying the Bible the
right way. Let Him develop questions in
you that you need the answers to, then pray for a deep desire to look for the
true answers as you study.
This concludes your reading and praying for today.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Five
Who Do You Consult for Your Answers?
Week Two Day Two
How To Get The Right
Answers
1.
Pray That You Get Good Gifts
Mat 7:11 (NIV) If you, then, though you are evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will
your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! Who do you listen to their
advice? Who do you believe their
instructions? Who have you put your
faith and trust in to guide your life? Who do you look to, to pattern your life after? Prayer is your avenue to direct access to
Jesus. What would you like to ask?
Jesus, I
often come to You with what I think I need. Help me see I am missing so many of Your provisions. Show me that the only way for me to get the
good gifts You have is to come to You with an open mind. Teach me how to get the good gifts that I so
desperately need each day. Give me
insight into what Your good gifts look like so I can pray for them.
2.
Pray That You Don't Miss Out On God's
Good Gifts
James 4:2b (NIV) You
want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you
do not ask God.
Jesus, I am so used to talking, thinking, and working
my way through the issues, goals, and plans of my day. Help me understand that I need to be praying
my way through them. Give me Your ideas,
Your words to say, and Your creative power to go through my day. I want to invite You to join me in my
conversations, my thought processes, and my activities.
3.
Pray That You Get Specific Good Gifts
Mat 6:9-3 (NIV) This, then, is how you should pray:
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be
Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us today our daily
bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Jesus, remind me, help me, and empower me to pray this
prayer every day. Let it set the
foundation for all the other prayers I pray each day. Also, help me get more specific in the
prayers I pray after this one. Show me
exactly what I need to be praying for; then give me the power to pray it in
such a way that I get the results I need all day long.
4. Pray
That You Follow The Simple Process
Let's say you are going through your day and you have a decision to
make. You can wonder what you
should do; or, you can think something like, "Jesus, what should I do
about this?", "Jesus, show me the right solution for this." "Jesus, give me the
best attitude.", or, "Jesus, how would You handle this?". It isn't difficult to include Jesus in on all
your daily decisions and issues. He waits
for you to invite or ask Him to help you with each issue, decision,
plan, and action. You ask Him to
join you by thinking it in your mind.
1 Th 5:17 (NIV) Pray continually: Jesus, it
seems strange for me to need to pray and ask You to help me pray. But, You are teaching me that I need to pray
for everything. I need Your help to
remember to include You in on every moment and every issue of my life. I have tried to remember to include You in my
life; but I fail. Help me remember to
include You; and, if, for some reason, I still forget to invite You into a
situation, help me keep on asking (pray continually) until it becomes a
natural part of my lifestyle.
5.
Pray That You Always Use The Three
Keys
Mat 7:7-8 (NIV) ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks
receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks,
the door will be opened.
Ask and it will be given to you: Jesus, You
presented The Three Keys and told me what happens when I use them. Speak this truth into my heart and mind. Put Your faith and the truth about these
words in me so I will ask, seek, and knock with the knowledge that it will
be given to me. Help me not apply
them without faith and knowledge.
6.
Pray That You See The Good
Attitudes Of Your Heavenly Father
Mat 7:9-11 (NIV) Which of you, if his son asks for bread,
will give him a stone? Or if he asks for
a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!
There are Christians who don't
ask Jesus for things because they fear He will answer it with a spiritual test
or some life's challenge. One of Jesus'
points in Matthew 7:9-11 is that God doesn't use bad, harmful, or disappointing
things as answers to your prayers for good things.
7.
Pray That You Understand The Words,
"How Much More"
Which of you, if his son asks for
bread, will give him a stone: Jesus heal me from the lies of Satan and the
world. They are always coming up with
scenarios that make it look like You are a bad God. When I ask a human for something good, I expect
them to not play tricks on me. A stone
isn't something that would attack or hurt me; I just can't eat it. Show me that You will only give me good
things that will be a great benefit to me and others.
Or if he asks for a fish, will give
him a snake: Jesus, this is also part of the lies Satan tries to tell me. I know that if I ask my parent to give me
something good to eat, they won't give me something deadly; that would be an
evil thing to do. Help me see that I can
completely trust my heavenly Father to not do anything that is wrong,
bad, or evil.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good
gifts to your children: If you are
"good enough" to not give wrong, bad, or evil things to your children, then it
should be clear to you that God wouldn't do it either. Even a really bad, evil parent who is prone
to do wrong, bad, or evil things to their children, they still know how
to give good gifts to their children; they just don't do it.
Jesus, show me
that my human parents are evil in comparison to my heavenly Father's holiness,
godliness, righteousness, and purity. Heal my heart and mind from any failures and flaws my parents had. Let me see the greatness, integrity, and love
God has for me. Build a complete trust
in me for His love, honesty, trustworthiness, and grace.
how much more will your Father in heaven give
good gifts to those who ask Him: Don't be afraid to include your heavenly Father
all day long. You must pray and ask Him
to help you get rid of these fears so you can invite Him in on everything. You can trust Him to answer all your prayers
with good-gift answers; but, you must believe this is true.
Jesus, I do
sometimes feel fear that my heavenly Father might do something or require
something of me that I won't like. Help
me relax and trust Him with my life. Teach me how to respect His knowledge, foreknowledge of the future,
understanding, wisdom, and love. Speak
trust into my heart so I can allow Him to do what I need done. Speak truth into my mind so I will see how
great and wonderful His influence on me can be.
When something bad comes your way, not only is it coming from some source
other than God, God is actually turning it around for your good. Rom 8:28 (NIV) And we KNOW that in
all things God works for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called according to His purpose. Not only does He refuse to do
anything bad to you, He RESISTS everything bad that does come your way and forces
it to work out for your good.
Jesus,
help me understand that wrong, bad, and evil things that typically come
everyone's way, will come my way. Let me
see that just because I became a Christian doesn't mean I won't face the
difficulties I was going to face. Teach
me how to join You and all Your supernatural provisions to defeat and win over
them. Help me not get mad, disappointed,
frustrated, or hurt over them. Fill my
heart with faith and my mind with truth. Show me how to fight through You, defeat them, and gain great victories
through winning over them.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Six
What People and
Things Do You Trust?
Week Two Day Three
How To Get Reliable Faith
Mark
11:24 (AKJV) Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire,
when you PRAY, believe that you receive them, and you
shall have them.
1. Ask For Jesus' Faith That Gets Results
In order to get things in the spirit realm, you have to believe that you receive them. When the Bible says: "And
my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in
Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19)",
faith believes it is a fact. But,
this faith isn't a faith you can produce. Jesus must give you His faith. It
isn't to believe all your needs will be met; it is to believe that your GOD will meet
all your needs. It's faith in God;
and, it's faith from Jesus.
Jesus, give
me faith in my heavenly Father. Help
believe He will see to it that all my needs will be met according
to His glorious riches in You, Christ Jesus. Even when it looks like they aren't being
met, help me know (be sure and certain) that you are
meeting them.
2.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand The
Definition Of Faith
Heb 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of
what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. When Jesus speaks
faith into you, you get a faith that is sure of what we
hope for and certain of what we do not see. Through the power of Jesus' faith, all of
a sudden you are sure and certain that you got it from God.
Since faith must come from Jesus,
it keeps you from being able to control the power and resources of God. God only gives good things through
faith. Faith is the belief in the honesty
and integrity of God. If you don't have
faith (don't believe God is telling you the truth), then you don't get what you
pray for (Hebrews 11:6).
Jesus, help
me always desire to believe in Your honesty, study and learn more
about Your honesty, pray based on Your honesty, believe in Your
honesty, love You enough to know You are honest, and take faith-action
based on Your honesty.
3.
Ask Jesus To Give You The Type Of
Faith He Speaks Into You
James 1:6-8 But when he asks, he must believe and
not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and
tossed by the wind. That man should
not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded
man, unstable in all he does.
When Jesus speaks His
faith into you, it is a powerful, consistent faith that doesn't
doubt. It makes the person constantly
sure and certain; in other words, you believe that you receive them. Sure and certain are the same things as to believe that you receive them. You
don't try to believe; you look to Jesus to give you the
faith for the thing you are praying for.
Jesus, my
faith wavers and doubts; it lacks consistency. Help me wait until You speak Your faith into me. Teach me how to look to You for the faith to
believe those things You want to give me. Show me that You will always give me faith for those things that are
God's will.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You Wait For Faith
To Come
Heb 12:2a (NIV) Let
us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus: When the Bible says, for example, By His wounds you
have been healed (1 Pet 2:24b), if you want specific faith for a specific
physical disease or problem, then you look to Jesus to give you the
faith for that healing. You fix your
eyes on Jesus by asking Him to give you the faith for it; then you stay
fixed by waiting for it to come. If
Jesus gives you the faith, then you are empowered to believe you have it, and,
healing comes to you.
Jesus, help
me not try to have faith through my own abilities. Help me be willing to wait for You to give me
the faith for those things I need. Help
me be looking in the Bible for those things I need to be receiving Your faith
for. Show me how to always pray for them
the moment I discover them. Empower me
to be certain and sure that You have given them to me. Teach me how to get them through the
motivation of Your love. And then, help
me know how to start living on the basis of them by joining You in faith-action.
5.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand The
Authoring Of Your Faith
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the
Author…of our faith: Jesus, my first experience with You speaking faith
into me was at salvation. When someone
shared the salvation message with me, I believed it was true. That was You authoring or causing me
to believe it was true. You empowered me
to believe I was saved. Help me
use that experience to teach me how it works, when You speak faith into
me.
6.
Ask Jesus To Perfect Your Faith
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the…Perfecter
of our faith: Jesus, I ask You to perfect my faith. Let it be a trust that You only give me the very best. When I pray for something and You don't give
me the faith for it, help me be sure and certain it's because it
isn't the best for me and those around me.
7.
Ask Jesus To Help Your Faith Become
Constant
Mat 17:19-20 (NIV) Then the disciples came to Jesus in
private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little
faith. I tell you the truth, if
you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
The little faith Jesus was
talking about was little in time. As it relates to size, it can be as small as a mustard seed. As it relates to time, it has to be
constant. If you believe for a little
while and then doubt for a little while, that man should not
think he will receive anything from the Lord (James 1:7). But, fixing your eyes on Jesus
will give you HIS constant faith.
Jesus, help
me know the difference between little faith in size and little faith in
time. Help me have Your faith that is
big in size and big in consistency and duration. Help me be strong in Your faith so I can
believe I have all those things You want to give me.
8.
Ask Jesus To Help You Have The Right
Motives
James 4:3 (NIV) When you ask, you do not receive,
because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend
what you get on your pleasures. When you get the attitudes and character God is
looking for, faith starts to flow in and through you in a much more rapid
way. You need to always be asking God
to show you anything that is in your motives and heart that are keeping Jesus
from speaking faith into you for the things you need.
Jesus, keep
me from praying for good things while wanting to use them for wrong or
bad. Help me not want them so people
will see how great I am. Help me get
those things You want to give me, but have been held up because of attitude or
character problems in me.
9.
Ask Jesus To Help You Get Faith
Through Love
Jesus gives faith for things that
are the very best for you and those around you. If it is good for you but would hurt those
around you, He won't give you faith for it. God desires that everything be based on win/win results; so, Jesus will
only give you faith for things that benefit all involved. Jesus' faith only comes to those who love
themselves, other people, and God.
Praying that your team will win,
isn't a win/win scenario. Games are for
fun; but, Jesus will not help you win. He only gives faith for things that bring mutual benefit for all
involved.
Jesus, help
me always desire those things that are mutually beneficial to all those
around me. As I study the Bible,
teach me how to always create win/win situations. When I pray to You for specific things,
help me not just pray for my needs but to include others in my prayers. Then once I have prayed, help you wait for
You to speak faith into my heart so I can believe You have empowered me
to care about those around me. Teach and
empower me to love those around me so much that I want them to be
mutually benefited. And then help me live
my life based on the answers to this prayer.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Seven
How Do You Feel About God, Yourself, and Others
Week Two Day Four
How To Live Love
1 Cor 13:1-3
(NIV) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I
am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom
all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,
but have not love, I gain nothing.
The first thing that happened to you when you came to Jesus for salvation
was, love was put in your heart. Christianity is all about love. You may not feel it or use it; but, all you have to do is learn how to
yield to it. Human love doesn't work;
so, God solves this problem by giving you his love. Rom 5:5 (NIV) And hope does not
disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by
the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us.
Father, I
thank You for giving me Your love. Help me
learn how to yield to it until it is functioning as described in 1 Corinthians
13:4-8a. Empower me to allow it to
influence my relationships with myself, other people, and You. Teach me how to allow it to flow in and
through me like a river. Show me what it
looks like as I go through the activities of my day.
2.
Ask For Jesus' Help With The Three
Number One Requirements
Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31:
"'(1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: '(2) Love your
neighbor (3) AS yourself.' There is no commandment greater
than these."
Jesus, I want to love You, myself, and others. I want to always be motivated to produce
win/win results for all involved. Help
me develop this lifestyle so love will be the reason I do everything I
do. Protect me from trying to do it with
my love; it's too weak, limited, and unreliable. Teach me how to yield to Your love and allow
it to motivate me.
3. Ask Jesus To Help You Understand That
He Is All About Love
John 3:16 (NIV) 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.
Father, help me stay aware that Your love isn't just a
feeling; it isn't just a bunch of words; it is an action that is demonstrated
by the way I treat You, myself, and other people. Settle it in my heart and mind that it has to
do with what I think, how I feel, what I say, and what I do. Let Your love be the foundation for all my
relationships. Let it set the standard
for why I do what I do. I yield to Your
power to help me become a totally different person.
4.
Ask Jesus
To Help You Understand That He IS
Love
Rom 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates His own love
for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is the
way of life that motivates God. 1 John
4:8 (NIV) Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is
love.
Father,
empower me to grow in all my relationships by yielding to Your love. Let Your love give me the power to change in
my treatment of myself, those around me, and You. Teach me what Your love IS. Show me what it looks like in real life. Let me see what You are like and what You are
taking me into.
5.
Ask Jesus
To Help You Take
Advantage Of What You Have
1 Cor 13:4-8a
(NIV) Love is patient, love is kind. It
does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
This is God's power inside you; it is trying to work through you. When Romans 5:5 says: "God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy
Spirit, Whom He has given us." The list in
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a is what you received. All these powerful characteristics are in you waiting for you to yield
to them.
1. Jesus, give
me the desire to yield to God's love; let it start showing up in my
behavior.
2. Guide me in
my study; let it teach me what God's love looks like in real life and
how to yield to it; let the 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 characteristics influence my
relationships.
3. Let me pray
prayers that help me yield to these love characteristics.
4. Help me fix
my eyes on You for the faith to believe I have God's love. Help
me believe I
am being empowered to yield to it. Make
me sure and certain that I can live out these wonderful
characteristics.
5. Help me
allow God's love to motivate everything I think, feel, say, and do.
6. Help me take
faith-action and start living on the basis of the fact that I
have God's love; join me so I can see all these characteristics improve all my
relationships with myself, those around me, and You.
7. Then when
You give me all these wonderful characteristics of love help me be thankful.
During your day, if you fail in one or more of these 1 Corinthians
13:4-8a areas, all you have to do is ask Jesus to help you live God's love in
your relationships. We all fail, have to
pray for the same things, and have to receive faith and yield to these love
items. But, if you keep praying, you will gradually start seeing God's
love showing up in all your behavior.
6. Ask Jesus To Help You Learn The
Characteristics Of Love
Read this 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a list regularly and seek (study
with passion) to know what they are and what they mean. Then when you struggle with being patient, for example, you will know
God's love has already provided it. So,
you ask Jesus to forgive
you for not yielding to His patience. Then you ask Him to empower you to yield to it.
Jesus, teach me the meaning, purpose, and life of the 1
Corinthians 13:4-8 list. Help me get
more familiar with these traits within God's love. Help me recognize them as they start showing
up in the relationship-events of my life. When I find myself being more patient or kind than I would typically be,
help me thank God for empowering me to yield to His love.
7. Ask Jesus To Help You Understand That
You Don't Get Better
It is hard for a Christian to realize that God isn't trying to make them
into an improved person. You will
improve; but, it won't be because you are "getting better at it." For example, a device that has to be plugged
into electricity is only "good" for as long as it is plugged in. John 15:5 (NIV) I (Jesus) am the vine; you are the
branches. If a man remains in
Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me
you can do nothing.
Jesus reveal to me that Your work doesn't make me
become a better person. Show me that I
get a better lifestyle because I am remaining in You and You in me. Teach me that the more I yield to God's love,
the more my behavior keeps improving. Help me see great results in my relationships, and, see great victory in
my life. But, empower me to see that it
only lasts for as long as I stay connected to You, Your Word, and Your love
(John 15:1-17).
8. Ask Jesus To Help You Understand That
Improvement Is A Gift
The reason you demonstrate love, the reason you learn how to produce
win/win plans for all involved, and the reason you succeed in life, is because
you are yielding to God's love. He is
empowering all these activities in your life. As you accept this principle and spend time praising God for each
breakthrough, you will learn to love Him more.
Jesus, keep me from feel like I am learning and living
this life. Keep me from thinking I have
reached this victory. Let me see,
understand, and appreciate Your constant flow in and through me. Deliver me from assuming I am getting
better. Protect me from bragging on
myself rather than my heavenly Father. Teach me that pride is me believing a lie. Teach me that humility is me believing the
truth. Keep me aware that I am not doing
it; God's love is!
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Eight
How Do You Know When You Have
God's Answer?
Week Two Day Five
How To Start Living The Bible
1.
Ask Jesus To Help You Start Living On
The Basis Of The Fact
James 2:17 (NIV) In
the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action,
is dead. You have
studied (been seeking) and prayed (been asking) all this way through all these
Truth/Prayer Pages so you could be here. You have desired, studied, prayed, believed, and yielded to God's love,
just so you could get it into your life. If you fail at faith-action all that studying and asking
are dead; they have to be accompanied by action.
Teaching them to Obey everything I have commanded
you (Mat 28:20a). Jesus wants
you to make all of His commands a part of your lifestyle. He wants you to "do what it takes" for you to
start living on the basis of the fact that He has given you faith for
it. He doesn't just want you to know the
truth, He wants you to be set free by the truth. Faith-action is to live on the basis of the
fact that Jesus gave you the faith to believe you have what you have
been asking for.
2.
Ask Jesus To Help You Live The Christian Lifestyle
Through Faith-Action
The following seven prayers are about you
taking faith-action. As you pray them,
see them as you asking Jesus to help you live your life based on the fact
that you know Jesus has given you these things you are asking for. Ask for Jesus' help in empowering you to take
faith-action:
1.
Jesus,
help me not just desire to be set free, empower me to live the life of
freedom (faith-action).
2.
Jesus,
help me not just study about freedom, empower me to live on the basis of
the fact that I am free (faith-action).
3.
Jesus,
help me not just pray for freedom, give me the answers to my prayers so
I can BE and live free (faith-action).
4.
Jesus,
help me not just want to believe I am free, let me know I have freedom
and can believe I can now live free (faith-action).
5.
Jesus,
help me not just know I have Your love so I can love myself, other people, and
You, empower me to love myself, other people, and You
(faith-action).
6.
Jesus,
help me not just take the first five steps trying to get freedom. Empower me to move on into freedom by joining
You and taking faith-action into the lifestyle of freedom.
7.
Jesus,
as You keep answering my prayers and meeting my needs, help me be thankful
for all You are doing for me. Help me
always give You thanks for Your love and generosity.
3.
Ask Jesus To Help You With A Three Step Process
Using love as an example, you go through three phases before you arrive
at your goal:
1. Jesus, teach me from the Bible, that I am supposed to
love
the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with
all my mind and with all my strength. And, Love my neighbor as myself.
(Mark 12:30-31) by seeking its truths.
2. Teach me from the Bible, how to love
the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with
all my mind and with all my strength. And, Love my neighbor
as myself. (Mark 12:30-31) by asking for how to do it.
3. Help me start loving the Lord my God
with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind
and with all my strength. And, Love my neighbor as myself.
(Mark 12:30-31) by taking faith-action.
Faith-action is the third step in this example; it is where you actually
do it! But, faith-action is powerless
without you seeking Biblical truths and asking Jesus to put them
in your life. Asking and seeking
take you to where you can start practicing faith-action with Jesus.
4. Ask To
Understand That Jesus Wants These Things In Your Life
Jesus said in Luke 6:46: "Why do you call Me, 'Lord,
Lord,' and do not do what I say?"
Jesus, if I
just find out what You say so I can know what it is, teach me
that I am only at the first stage of what You want. If I find out how You want me to go
about getting it into my life, then I am only at the second stage of what You
want. But, if You empower me to apply
the how to the what of Your teaching, then I can please You. Help me enter into a lifestyle of
living out and obeying everything You are teaching me (Mat 28:19-20).
5. Ask
For Jesus' Help In Taking These Three Steps Into The Lifestyle Of Jesus
Luke 6:47 (NIV) I
will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and puts
them into practice.
1. Who comes to Me: Jesus, help
me always take the first step by coming to You. Help me recognize that You are my answer to everything I need and
want. Empower me to accept the fact that
You are where I need to be. Help me
enter into the first phase of getting the very best coming into my life;
let me always come to You for everything.
2. Hears My words: Jesus, help
me always listen to what You have to say. If it is something I don't like or agree with, let me pray and ask You
to help me understand. I know You aren't
looking for blind obedience, or, just want my mental acceptance of Your
truths. You want my heart too. Help me keep on praying and listening until
You prove to me that Your words are the truth. Show me that Your way is the very best.
3. Puts them into practice: Jesus, this
was Your goal all a long; help me "do what it takes" to get Your teaching into
the way I live. I now come to You; I now
listen to You; and, I now start taking faith-action with You so I can
start putting them into practice. Show me that practicing faith-action is the same thing as
putting them into practice. Then
as You empower me to put them into practice, help me
always be thankful.
6. Ask
Jesus For The Lifestyle
Luke 6:48 (NIV) He is like a man building a house, who
dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck
that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. Jesus gave
you the three phases into the Jesus-life, which are: I will show you
what he is like who (1) comes to Me and (2) hears My words and
(3) puts them into practice. Asking
connects you to Jesus. seeking is
hearing His Words. faith-action
is putting them into practice. This is
the way into the Jesus-life.
Jesus, I
know I am going to face difficult challenges in life. But, I don't want to face them alone; I want
to face them with You. Help me apply
these three principles so I don't face
life's
challenges alone. Empower me to always
come, hear, and practice. Let that
become the pattern for all of my life.
7. Pray
Against Not Taking Faith-Action
Luke 6:49 (NIV) But the one who hears My words and does
not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the
ground without a foundation. The moment
the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was
complete.
This is a person who almost made
it into the lifestyle of what Jesus was trying to accomplish in
them. They came to Him, heard His words,
but stopped there. It may have been that
they decided they didn't want His way of life. It may have been that they didn't stay long enough to find out how
to take faith-action (put them into practice). It may have been that they failed to see how
important it was for them to trust Him to give them the very best. But, for whatever reason, they stopped short
and it collapsed and its destruction was complete.
Jesus, there
are times when the Christian life is very confusing, frustrating, condemning,
and overwhelming. Help me realize that
it is only because I don't have all the truths yet. Let me always ask You to help me stay with
You, listen to what You have to say, and always practice faith-action with
You. Let Your truth show me why I am confused,
frustrated, feeling condemned, and feeling overwhelmed.
8. Ask
Jesus To Help You Put Them Into Practice
To "put them into practice" is
the same as what you learned in James 2:17. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not
accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:17). The words
from Jesus in James just give you more information about how to go about
getting the things of Jesus into your life. That is why He is taking you through these studies and prayers.
Jesus, keep
teaching me how to use The Three Keys To All of Christianity. Teach me how and empower me to take Your
words and put
them into practice. As I move into the next faith-action step in the next
chapter, let me go through the Scriptures. Help me become very familiar with them; and, help me put them into practice.
This
concludes your reading and prayers for this week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Nine
Do You Know What The Objective Is?
Week Three Day One
How To Remain In Jesus
How Do You Start Putting Bible Things
Into Practice?
These Truth/Prayer Pages take John 15:1-17 and give Jesus' instructions
on how to live a victorious life. He
explains why some people fall out of the incredibly powerful and victorious
things provided in the Christian life. Let's look at the verses in it and start to put them into practice.
What Keeps You From Increasing Your Potential?
There are people who are able to
ruin the very best marriages, businesses, opportunities, and
relationships. They appear to be the
unluckiest people on the planet; everything seems to go wrong. They never get a break; it looks like they
will never get a chance to win at life.
People who keep losing at life
wonder why things are constantly going wrong. They don't understand why they put forth their very best efforts into
things and still end up losing or failing. Why do they keep facing circumstances beyond their control that block
off their goals? What can be done about
a life that doesn't seem to ever work? Is there a way for a person, who is struggling with life, to be able to
see positive changes? Are there ways to
change your personality, your relationships, your finances, your circumstances,
or your outlook on life?
Jesus help me understand what it takes to succeed at
life. Help me understand why things
aren't working together for good for me according to Romans 8:28. If things start going wrong and it is because
I am doing something I shouldn't, help me make the changes. Let me use The Three Keys To All Of Christianity to get your
power to make those changes.
How Do You Evaluate Victory?
There are people who "seem" to
get all the breaks in life; they "seem" to be good at everything. They get money, possessions, positions,
popularity, power, prestige, pleasure and accomplishments. If this is success, then they are very
successful; but, there is something wrong with their life. Something is missing in all they have and all
they accomplish.
If money, possessions, positions,
popularity, power, prestige, pleasure, and accomplishments provide peace,
happiness, and satisfaction, there would be a time when it was enough. There would be fulfillment; but, that's the
problem with things; there is never enough. There's a constant drive for more. The goals, accomplishments, and standards must be raised. They must be bigger and better. The thrill of the pursuit has to be more
challenging and spectacular.
Jesus, help
having enough of things never be my goal. Help me see my accomplishments as being those
things You are empowering me to produce. You be my evaluator of who I am and what my value it. You be my happiness, fulfillment,
satisfaction, and peace. Deliver me from
the drive and push that burns on the inside those who are applying the world's
goals.
Have You Added Outside Resources?
Whether you see yourself as a
loser or a winner, we all face the challenges of life that seem
impossible. When you read the Bible, it
also seems impossible. When you face impossible
things, you need to have a source that is more powerful and capable than you
are. Most people are trying to succeed
at life by looking to themselves and what they see as being
solutions. The answer to losing and
to winning is to add the right kind of outside resources.
Jesus,
whether I am battling issues inside or outside me, show me Your WAY for me to
win at things I couldn't win at before. Teach me Your truths that raise me above my difficulties and set
me free. Give me a life filled
with happiness, victory, accomplishments, and satisfaction. Help me look to You for what I consider to be
victory.
Are You Connected To A Better Outside Source?
When a house is connected
to a source of electricity, water, gas, internet, and television, you can take
advantage of all those sources. Connection
makes it possible for all these supplies to flow into your house. You will be looking at the incredible potential
of being connected to Jesus. This
study simply deals with the importance and benefits that come through this connection.
Jesus, I have limitations; there are things I can't
do. I know that if I am connected
to people with special abilities, skills, and resources, my accomplishments
greatly increase. Help me understand
that, that is how life works in my relationship with You. Help see that You can take my limitations and
add Your lack of limitations to me. I
want to trust in You.
Are You Connected To The Best?
Jesus is your best source of
getting help with your problems, needs, and issues of life. Actually, He is your only source; but, we'll
say "best source" for now. To get God's
help, you must go through Jesus; Jesus is the door into all the provisions of
God; but, do you need God's help?
Jesus, teach me that God's help is like the
difference in me living in a house with no utilities and me having them
all. Help me see that having God's help
is like getting all the utilities I want but for free. Show me it would as if I had a card I could
present to any company, business, store, or supply house and they would give me
as much as I wanted of anything I wanted for free? Help me understand that my attitudes and
character are what is holding up your supernatural provisions from me. You are helping me be set free from
selfishness.
How Do You Eliminate Your Limitations?
Jesus and His Bible have helped
you be provided with a lot of studies and prayers that introduce you into a
life that is totally different from anything you have seen on
earth. It is better than any monetary or
governmental system known to man. Jesus
has provided you with a way to have the financial, emotional, relational, physical,
and spiritual provisions you need. He
just needs to help you become trustworthy with His gifts.
Jesus, teach me that I can get all my needs met
through God's system of gifts. They come to me because I am His child, a member of His family, and a
citizen of His eternal Kingdom. But, the
system I am used to, required me to have money, time, skills, talents,
possessions, positions, prestige, power, and enough popularity to get people to
give me what I needed. Help me give that
old system up so I can learn how to live by faith. Help me learn how to live as a child of
God.
Are You On The Self-Improvement
Program?
In the world system, you are only
as happy, wealthy, and successful as you are able to provide what others
want. If there are any limitations in
your money, possessions, positions, popularity, prestige, power, skills, or
talents, they show up as a lack. If
there is something you want from someone but you don't have enough money or
skills to provide them with what they want, then you have to do without it. Is that what is still happening to you now?
Jesus, I had to try to be the best at everything; I
had to try to be the kind of person who had those things other people
wanted. I worked on myself trying to be
the best so I could get what I needed from others. But, I always found limitations to my
abilities and resources. I would like to
step out of this system and let You show me a different way?
Is Your Life Based On Wages Or Gifts?
What if God gave you all kinds of
abilities, skills, talents, and resources as gifts? What if you were able to get an education,
succeed at a profession, develop wonderful relationships, or be able to win at
life without having to have anything to offer in return? No longer would an education cost too much, a
profession take too many previous experiences, a relationship require you be
too good of a person, or life be too difficult and confusing.
Born In The Right
Family
You may not like gifts; you may
see gifts as handouts. If you are so
poor that people feel sorry for you, they might give you gifts because you
can't afford them. People who are born
in rich families don't feel this way about gifts; they see it as their
birthright. You were born again
into a very rich family!
Jesus, show me the benefits of those who are born in
families who "have everything." If I
were born in a family that gave me a very generous allowance and provided the
very best, if I knew how to use it, I would get all my needs met. My life would be filled with resources. My potential would be unlimited. Help me see why You are helping me grow spiritually.
Did You Know You Have Been Adopted Into The Right Family?
Phil 4:19 (NIV) And
my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches IN
Christ Jesus. You can't choose the family you were born into;
but, you can choose the family you are born again into. When you were born again, you chose an
incredible family to belong to. Being
born into God's family automatically made you a candidate for getting all His
provisions. You inherited all the
rights and privileges of being one of His family members.
The Bible is full of all the
awesome things you as a Christian are given. However, there are Christians, maybe you included, that are living far
below what the Bible describes as being available to God's children. If you allow Jesus to help you with your
attitudes and character, He will change this. Once you become trained on how to handle your heavenly Father's
provisions, Jesus will help you live on the basis of them.
Jesus, show me what could keep me as God's child
from getting the benefits of living in a wealthy, generous, loving,
household? Show me that ignorance could
keep me from knowing how to take advantage of my resources. Help me see that bad attitudes could keep my
Father from being willing to share His wealth. Help me understand that bad character could keep me from using this
shared wealth in a proper way. Help me
see why I need all this studying and praying.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Ten
How Does
Life Work?
Week Three Day Two
How
To Get Life Working Right
Do You Believe Jesus Knows How Life Works?
You just spent some very important time looking at The Three Keys To All of Christianity. Without them you would try to fulfill the
requirements, commandments, and instructions from Jesus by using some other
system; that would hurt you. When Jesus
commanded you to do something, you wouldn't know how to apply supernatural,
spiritual principles to a supernatural, spiritual command. You would either
ignore it, try to fulfill it by using human techniques, or use one or two of
them but not all of them.
Have you ever read a verse in the Bible and not stopped to consider its
value? Have you ever wanted the truths
in a verse to be a part of your life but didn't know how to get it? Have you ever tried to live a verse in the
Bible but didn't seem to be able to? Have you ever read a verse and didn't know what it meant and didn't know
how to find out? Have you ever read a
verse and it seemed so difficult that you just ignored it? Jesus wants to help you with these
issues.
What Is Running, Shaping, and Controlling Your Life?
There is a Personal Assessment Worksheet on the last page of today's
chapter and on the last page of this book for you to print out and use. Please print it and fill it out so you can do
these studies and prayers with a personal purpose.
Jesus,
help me do a personal assessment; help me write down those things that are
really bothering me the most. Let me put
down those goals I have made that are now governing my life. Join me in looking at the plans I have drawn
up. Help me remember the major
circumstances that have done the most shaping of my life. Show me how to go over the relationships that
have influenced me the most. Then
empower me to reevaluate them as it relates to Your will, Your Word, and my
relationship with You.
Are You
Willing To Stop And Take Out Time To
Reconsider?
Allow the Personal Assessment Questions help you see what you would like
to get out of these studies and prayers. If you don't know where you want Jesus' help, then you won't know what
you really desire. These
questions can help you study and pray with purpose and identified needs and
wants. There can be things in your life
that are really hurting you.
Jesus,
help me see that You are waiting for me to open my heart and mind and allow You
to work with me. Since You are honoring
my God-given free will, I must allow the Personal Assessment questions help me
focus on where I want Your help. Help me
know where I am hurting, where I am dissatisfied, where I want to go, and where
I want Your help. Make this time of
study and prayer be rewarding. Let me
know what I need to be looking for when I open my Bible and when I do these
studies and prayers.
Are You
Willing To stop And Take Time To Set Some Goals?
There are a lot of things you need to pray; but, what do you
want to pray for? If you were to join
Jesus in praying for some things that are on your heart and mind, what would
they be? What are the things that you
have been wanting and needing for a long time and just haven't been able to get
them taken care of? This is a time for
you to take what you have learned and been praying for and start moving into faith-action. This empowers you to start living on the
basis of them. Don't take the steps
right up to the place of faith-action and stop.
Jesus,
where do You and I want to go; what is it I need You to give me the faith for
so I can believe You have given it to me? Help me cooperate and work together with You
on "what it is going to take" to bring blessings, miracles, and answers for all
those things I am concerned about. Also,
help me with those around me; what do they need? What do I already have that I could share
with them out of love? Help me
realize that a lot of my needs get met out of me giving to others so that the
doors get opened up to me (Luke 6:38).
Have You Stopped
And Thanked God For What He Has Already Done?
What are some of the things God has already done in your life? Spend some time writing out a list of all the
things you can remember that He has already given you. Then look around you at the problems, issues,
diseases, bad circumstances, bad relationships, and misfortunes of the people
you have seen and know. As you see what
all has happened to them, how many of these things never happened to
you? Consider all the things God
protected you from so you wouldn't have to face them in the first place.
Jesus,
help me make a list of all the things I can remember that You healed me,
blessed me, saved me, and provided for me. Then help me make a list of all the things that happened to other people
I know. Help me see what could have
happened to me, but didn't. Help me go
over these two lists and praise You for all You have delivered me from and all
the things You have kept me from experiencing in the first place. Empower me to be thankful, appreciative, and
excited about all of these things. Help
me keep adding to these lists as I see more.
Have You Stopped And Prayed For Those You Know Who Are Suffering?
Now spend some time praying for those who are going through those things
God has protected and saved you from. Let Jesus give you a compassion for them as if you were going
through them yourself.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Eleven
A Very Important
Illustration
Week Three Day Three
You
Are Now In A Very Wealthy Family
There is a parable, a spiritual story,
or illustration that helps explain important information. Jesus told it so you will be able to see what
kind of character and attitude training you need. This is so you can get the most out of being a
child of God. This parable is about
two kids who were born to a very loving, generous, and rich father. They grew up in this wealthy environment and
approached their inheritance in two totally different ways.
Jesus, use the two-son example, in this parable, to
illustrate some possible reasons why I might not be able to take advantage of
my inheritance. Teach me that even
though it is made possible in or through You, I still have to "do what
it takes" to benefit from it. So, as I
take a look at two wrong ways to look at the riches in God's family,
help me be able to learn from their mistakes rather than me learning the
hard way.
Two Rich Kids
Luke 15:11 (NIV) Jesus continued: "There was a man who had
two sons.
How
Will You React To The Wealth and Power of Your Heavenly Father?
First, you will see a spoiled,
rich kid who grew up in a very loving and generous family. His whole approach to life was all about him
and how he could get as much pleasure as possible. Then you will see a confused rich kid who
grew up never understanding what he actually had. What you are looking at here are two
possible ways of misunderstanding Who God is and what He is all about. Your heavenly Father is all about love and a
relationship of love.
These sons didn't realize their
father was the best thing they inherited. They didn't know their father was showing them what real love was all
about. They didn't care that he was
showing them how to have a happy and successful life. They thought they knew how to live life. One thought he knew how to have fun and how
to live a thrilling life. The other one
thought he knew how to accomplish things and be a success. Have you ever thought these things? So, take a look at how to have an awesome and
powerful situation and ruin it.
Jesus, even if these two boys don't represent me and
the way I started living my life. Help
me learn from them how to treat my heavenly Father. Let this illustration teach me two major
aspects of how to not try to live the Christian life. Teach me the right way to approach Him.
The Younger Son
Should You Receive God's Gifts With No Appreciation?
Luke 15:12 (NIV) The younger one said to his father,
"Father, give me my share of the estate." So he divided his
property between them. From that moment on, both
sons were free to spent it, ignored it, or invested it. Their dad had proven that he knew how to
succeed at life. He was readily
available to help his two boys in any way they wanted him to. This father mainly represents your heavenly
Father; but, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are included in Him. So, you could simply say that the father in
this spiritual illustration represents God.
Jesus, as I read the Bible and hear about the
blessings, miracles, and provisions of God, help me not see them as being my rights. Help me see them as gifts coming from
generosity and love, rather than things I deserve. Help me not demand, take, expect, or require
God to do what I want done. Help me love
God, respect Him, appreciate Him, and thank Him for His love and generosity. Help me not love the provisions but fail to
see the great attitudes and character of my heavenly Father. Help me not love money and things more than
people.
What Are You Going To Do With God's Generosity?
So he divided his property: Typically
you don't get an inheritance from your
parents until they die. This father was
still alive and yet he allowed his property to be divided between his
two sons. That was a very generous and
dangerous thing to do! But, this was
done for them so they could make their mistakes and learn some very valuable
lessons before he died.
So he divided his property between them: One son knew what he wanted to do with "his"
inheritance. His plan was foolish and
bad for him; but, just as soon as he got his inheritance, he started using
it. The other son didn't understand
gifts; his life didn't change at all. He
went right back to living just like he had before. Both of these approaches are wrong. You will get a chance to compare your
attitudes and character with these two approaches.
Do You Deserve God's Blessings? Or, Do You See Them As Gifts?
Luke 15:13 (NIV) Not long after that, the younger son got
together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered
his wealth in wild living.
Jesus, You gave me a life, a body, a brain, earthly
resources, special talents and abilities, and allow me to do what I want with
them. Like most people, I went for
pleasure rather than happiness. I
discovered extreme pleasure and assumed it was the same as happiness; but, I
was wrong. I finally realized I was
squandering my gifts from God. I
realized this before my whole life was over. You showed me my beliefs, philosophies, and systems were wrong. You helped me allow my Father to teach me
what I needed to know in the first place. I am now learning the difference between separation from God and
remaining with Him.
Are
You Ready To Face Reality?
Luke 15:14 (NIV) After he had spent everything,
there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
Jesus, help me see that usually something has to
happen to wake me up to the truth. Help
me keep in mind that none of these earthly things last forever; I can
use up my body, my money, my resources, my time, my potential, and my life. I can do what "feels" good; or, I can allow
myself to be trained on how to be victorious
and win at
life. Teach me that there's a hard way
of learning things; and there is an easy way. There's a bad way to learn things; and there is a good way. Help me choose the easy and good way.
Did You Know Your Greatest Inheritance
Is Your Father?
Like this young man, you have a
Father that you can spend time with. You
can learn how to be a person with a lot of resources, opportunities, and
potential. You don't have to go out and
make mistakes and suffer lost in order to learn the meaning and purpose of
life. You don't have to fail at
relationships, business, education, or life in general. You can spend as much time with Him as you
want to. You can remain "home" or you
can go out on your own.
Jesus, help me realize that just because I think
I know how to win at life doesn't make it true. Show me that just because I look around me at those I think are
successful doesn't make that true either. Help me always keep in mind that just because some "experts" tells me
how to be a success doesn't make them right. Teach me that I can be sincerely wrong and still get the same
bad results as a person who squandered their life on purpose.
How Should You Learn Your Lessons?
Luke 15:15 (NIV) So he went and hired himself out to
a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. This young man
came from a house with a dad who was very successful. He could have taught him skills, professions,
and life-lessons. Why didn't he? Because his son wasn't teachable (not poor in spirit), wouldn't see his own faults (unable to mourn), didn't consider his father to be an expert (no meekness), and he didn't understand what righteousness was
(no hungering and thirsting for
righteousness), he was without skills and
training (Mat 5:3-6); so, he ended up feeding pigs.
Do You Have God's Power-Attitudes?
Jesus, create in me these four attitudes from the Beatitudes
in Matthew 5:3-12. Show me that being poor in spirit empowers me to be teachable, mourning
empowers me to be able to see my own faults and repent, meekness
empowers me to allow God to be my expert and final authority, and hungering
and thirsting for righteousness
empowers me to love myself, other people, and God. Let these power-attitudes of God flow in and
through me.
Are You Ready For A Change Of Life?
Who
sent him to his fields to feed pigs: Jesus, help me not look back on my life and feel
depressed, hopeless, and lost. Help me
take advantage of my relationship with God now. Help me spent a lot more time with Him. Help me allow Him to teach me how to succeed and be happy. There are so many things I could have done
sooner; but, I am pursuing Him with great intensity now. Don't let what I could have done
keep me from believing in what I can do now. Help me forget what is behind and press on to
Your highest goal.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twelve
Seeing What Separation Does
Week Three Day
Four
You are looking at a parable about two sons before you look at Jesus'
parable of the vine concerning remaining or separating. This parable is teaching you the problems you
face with separation the next one will teach you about remaining
in Jesus. Things caused these two boys
to separate. Their father succeeded in
life by concentrating on people rather than things.
Heavenly
Father, help me learn from Jesus and the Holy Spirit how to stay connected to
You. Help me learn what it takes to be
where You are, rather than where I think I should be. Teach me how to stay connected to You. Let me learn the principles that keep me in
constant contact with You. I know how to
physically stay connected to a person. But, I need Your help understanding how to spiritually stay connected to
You and Your principles.
Which Word
Motivates Your Goals?
The younger son didn't use people to get money; he spent all his money on
people. Doesn't it look like he used
money to help people? But, consider this
list of things: money, possessions, positions, popularity, prestige,
power, pleasure, and accomplishments. You can love other things. Let
Jesus search your heart and see if any of these "things" are motivating
you. This young son used his possessions
to get people; and, he used people to get pleasure.
Jesus,
teach me how to love others
as You have loved me (John 15:12). As I
study the son-parable and the vine-parable help me get this main truth. Teach me about this pleasure issue. Show me the difference between fun and
joy. Reveal the difference between being
addicted and being free. Teach me how to
handle pleasure from things like sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling, partying,
entertainment, games, eating, and spending money.
By God giving you a free will, it can give you the impression you are not
only in charge of your life, you control the philosophies, facts, rules, and
laws for life. The younger son
thought this; he designed his own; and, they failed him. God controls the philosophies, facts, rules,
and laws that make life work. But, this
son didn't embrace these principles. He
went out and wasted his inheritance; now, most of his inheritance is gone!
Jesus,
help me not spend all my time, effort, and money on things that give me
pleasure. Help me realize that just
thinking about myself and what makes me happy is like a foolish son. Help me see that I am financing, encouraging,
and partnering with people who are also selfish. We are spending all our time doing what is
fun and beneficial for ourself only. Help me see this and be willing to make the right choices.
Jesus is taking you into what to do now! It isn't enough for you to know you should spend more time with
your heavenly Father. It isn't enough
for you to tell yourself that you should spend more time with Him. It isn't even enough for you to decide
to spend more time with Him. You have to
apply The Three Keys To All Christianity to this problem. You have to ask
God to help you do it. Take a look at
how God's system works in "real" life.
How To Spend More Time With God
1. Do you want
to spend more time with your heavenly Father? Then you are on your way to having the desire you need so you can
take your next step. But, until you
apply the "ask" key to this, you will typically be trying to use human
desire.
Father, you have helped me start wanting to spend time
with You. But, I have made a lot of
decisions and commitments to do this in the past and failed. I realize now that it is because I used my
human desire to try to produce a spiritual result. So, I now come to You for Your desire. Give me Your desire that is
supernatural and has the power to produce this commitment in my heart and
life.
2. As you go
through the Scriptures in this study, is it because you are seeking
to find out how your heavenly Father thinks? If so, then you are using the right purpose for spending more time with
Him. But, until you apply the "ask"
key to your studies, you won't get your heavenly Father's supernatural
input. That is why you need these
prayers.
Father, I have set up schedules, made plans, and made
commitments to read and study my Bible and Bible studies more;
but, after a while, it gradually slips away. I now come to You asking for Your power to help me make time studying
Your Word and Your Biblical principles. I know You alone can empower me to spend more time studying each
day. Help me look to You for teaching me
about how to live life.
3. Are you praying
to your heavenly Father asking Him to help you always remember to apply the ask
key to everything you do? If so, you are
inviting Him to help you always look to Him for everything you do. Invite Him into your daily routines.
Father, help me ask You to assist me in spending time praying
each day. Help me not forget to request
Your help making sure I take out the time to pray. Also, remind me to not just think when I am
making my decisions all day long. Help
me remember to include You by asking You what You want me to do about each
issue.
4. Are you
asking Jesus to give you His faith so you believe you have the power to
spend more time with your heavenly Father? Then you are fixing your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your
faith (Heb 12:2). He will empower you to
believe He has given you the power to spend more time with God. You will feel the assurance in your
heart.
Jesus, help me not use my faith for spending
time with my heavenly Father. Give me
the patience and power to keep my eyes fixed on You. Give me Your faith to believe I have Your
power to spend more time learning, growing, and getting guidance and
answers.
5. Are you
wanting to spend more time with your heavenly Father so you can help others
spend more time with Him too? Then you
are yielding to God's love. Are
you wanting to spend more time with Him so you can grow in your relationship
with Him? Then you are yielding to His love
by using it to love Him more and more.
Father, help me yield to Your love instead of my
human love. Teach me the difference
between the 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 love and the emotions and human
concepts the world teaches. Empower me
to have all the characteristics and attitudes Your love produces in and
through me. Help me love You,
those around me, and myself with Your love.
6. Are you
ready to start practicing living on the basis of the fact that God has
given you the power to start spending more time with Him? Then you are ready to start learning how to
practice faith-action. James 2:17
(NIV) In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action,
is dead.
Jesus, faith-action is a new concept for me;
teach me how to practice living on the basis of the fact that You have
given me the knowledge, understanding, wisdom, power, and love to spend more
time with my heavenly Father. Join me
and show me how to use these things to make my mind, heart, and body take out
the time to be with Him.
7.
Once Jesus gives you all these wonderful things, are you
ready to be thankful for His love and generosity to you? Rom
1:21 (NIV) For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor
gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts
were darkened.
Jesus,
help me not just take for granted the power and opportunities to spend more
time with my heavenly Father. Help me be
very thankful for this miracle in my life. Help me praise and thank Him for His
love and generosity to me. Heavenly
Father I thank You for opening the doors of opportunity for me to spend
more time with You; it is such a great privilege. Help me always be thankful for
everything You do for me.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirteen
What Do You Do When You Are In The Wrong Place?
Week Three Day
Five
You are continuing to study
Jesus' parable: Luke 15:11-15 (NIV) Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two
sons. The younger one said to his
father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property
between them. Not long after that, the
younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there
squandered his wealth in wild living.
After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole
country, and he began to be in need. So
he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his
fields to feed pigs.
Luke 15:16 (NIV) He longed to fill his stomach with the
pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
Do You Try To Make The Best Of It?
He longed to fill his stomach with the pods: When things go wrong in your life, you usually see
solutions that involve using what you have at the moment. You have heard that if life deals you lemons,
make lemonade. But in this illustration,
life dealt out pig food; that wasn't anything nearly as good as lemons. World philosophies always have holes
in them. Like this young man, you need
to look at your situation and see whether or not you should stay there any
longer. You need to "do whatever it
takes" to be with your heavenly Father.
Do You Get Ready To Make A Change?
But no one gave him anything: Where were his "friends?" Where were all those people who helped him
spend his money? Were they his greatest
assets? Did he gain any benefits by
spending money on them? Were they
friends he could turn to in a time of need? Didn't he leave the person who really cared about him and
wanted the very best for him?
Jesus, like me, this man was born in a very rich,
generous, and loving family. It
wasn't a matter of him not realizing there were great provisions; it was a
matter of what to do with them. What
should I do with all these provisions of God that I am learning about? Help
me spend time with my heavenly Father finding out
what is the best way to use them.
Do You Get Ready To Take A New Look?
Luke 15:17 (NIV) When he came to his senses, he said,
'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving
to death!'
When he came to his senses:
Jesus, when this young man got to a place where his mind
went back to his father's house, he started to appreciate what he had. He realized a very important truth: he
didn't have to stay in the pig pen. He
didn't have to try to make lemonade; he could go back home! Help me realize that no matter where I am, I
can spend more time with my heavenly Father.
How many of my father's hired men have food to spare:
Jesus, the way this young man used to feel about
home was interfering with his appreciation. He couldn't wait to get away from his home, brother, and father. He didn't appreciate them. And he wanted to see the world, try new
things, and get out on his own. Help me
not get disgruntled with my life. Help
me realize You are making everything work for my good. Give me a new appreciation for You and what
You are doing.
Do You Get Ready To Take A Hard Look
At Your Situation?
Here I am starving to death: There are things you want, are they the best
for you? There are ways you look at
life, are they the right way to see things? There are things you think are true, are they really truth? There are plans and goals you have set for
yourself, will they bring the happiness and satisfaction you think they
will? You can go ahead and test them out
and find out the hard way; or, you can sit with your heavenly Father and let
Him help you.
Jesus, make it clear to me how loving and generous
God really is. Help me appreciate the
body He gave me, the family, the resources and opportunities He provided, and
the love He sent to me through You. I am
through with getting out on my own and trying things "my way." I am ready to come to my senses and realize
God is a good and wonderful Father.
Do You Get Ready For A New Plan?
Luke 15:18 (NIV) I
will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you.
I will set out and go back:
Jesus,
it wasn't until this young man came
to his senses that he was able to get the help he needed. The answer was back home; that was the answer
all along; but, he didn't realize it until now. Why? Jesus, I have listened and
allowed the world to tell me what life is all about. I have looked at it and thought I could get
real happiness. So, I set the world up
as my heroes, experts, and teachers. Untrain me from all this false information.
Do You Get Ready For A New
Relationship?
I will set out and go back to my father:
Jesus, having God as my Father is a wonderful
provision. Help me make a commitment to
take anything I don't like, don't agree with, or don't trust Him to do it the
way I want, and submit it to Him. Help
me not leave Him over some petty thing I don't like.
I have sinned against heaven and against you:
Jesus, this statement is this young man's
repentance. Help me see it as an
attitude and an action that helps me make a U-turn and go back to the right
direction. If I make a mistake, commit a
sin, or are being tempted to do wrong, bad, or evil, help me run to my heavenly
Father and get His help! Help know that
He will show me what to do.
Do You Get Ready For A New Attitude?
It isn't always easy to admit you
are wrong; some people have to get into impossible situations before they can
repent and go the other way. Repentance
is a way back to God that solves your problems in a wonderful and powerful way;
but, you have to get to that place.
Sooner or later, all
Christians make mistakes and bad decisions. All Christians fail to appreciate and take advantage of some
wonderful provision of God. All
Christians try to use God to give them something they want. It takes all Christians a certain
amount of time to realize their greatest inheritance is their heavenly
Father. At some point, money, pleasure,
plans, or goals become so powerful that they draw all Christians away
from Him. All Christians will
eventually neglect their most important relationship. At some moment, all Christians become
too busy or too distracted to spend much time with Him. Sooner or later, it happens to all
Christians.
Do You Get Ready To Be Trained: Be
Poor In Spirit?
Luke 15:19 (NIV) I am no longer worthy to be called your
son; make me like one of your hired men. This is part repentance: Asking for forgiveness; and
penance: Paying for your sin.
I am no longer worthy:
Jesus, when I get to the place where I am ready to
get help from my heavenly Father, help me just repent. Help me admit I sinned, ask Him for
forgiveness, ask Him to empower me to never do it again, and move on into my
cleansed life. Teach me that penance is
me trying to pay for my mistake, sin, or failure. You have already paid for it; there is
nothing I can do to buy it, pay for it, or trade for it. It is a gift so I can learn to love my
heavenly Father.
Make me like one of your hired men: You will be looking at the older brother next;
this is what he thought was the way to live life. God doesn't want to make you one of His
slaves or one of His hired men; He has a better relationship in
mind. Yes, you have made mistakes; yes,
you have done things to hurt your relationship with yourself, those around you,
and God; and yes, you need to repent. But, you don't need demoting to a lesser relationship; you are still His
child.
This concludes your reading and prayers for this
week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Fourteen
How Do You Spend Your Time With Your Heavenly Father?
Week Four Day One
How To Spend Time With Your Heavenly Father
Now, take a look at your attitude, when you come to your heavenly Father
and spend more time with Him. If you
spend a lot of time telling Him what you want, what you think, what plans and
decisions you want Him blessing, and what prayers you want Him answering, your
time with Him will be tremendously limited. How could you better spend your time?
1. Ask Jesus To Help You Be Open To
Instruction
Luke 18:17 (NIV) I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the
kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it: You may not like coming to God without a
plan, an idea, or a strategy for what you want happening to you. Even when you do start looking to God for His
help, you can still want to have some idea as to how He might help you. Most of us do a lot of thinking, planning,
and coming up with ideas we want God to approve. Rather than allowing God to give you the
right idea or solution, you can ask Him to bless your plan.
Jesus,
help me come to You in a "neutral" state; help me include You in on the very
beginnings of my thinking, planning, and strategizing. Help me realize that if I include You in on
the beginnings, I will get brilliant ideas, plans, and strategies. Plus, they will all be filtered through Your
foreknowledge of the future. Show me
that it will not only be a brilliant plan, it will be a plan that brings the
very best results for me and those around me.
2. Ask Jesus To Help You Have The Right Desire
Rom 8:5
(NIV) Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what
that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the
Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. You must ask yourself what you want. Are you trying to prove how smart you
are? Do you want the solution to be
yours so you can feel good about yourself? Do you want something so much that you are tempted to do it no matter
what God says? Or, do you want the
future that only your heavenly Father can provide?
Jesus,
help me want the kind of future that only my heavenly Father can provide. Protect me from wanting to build my
self-esteem and self-confidence. Set me
free from pride that motivates me to seek glory, praise, and acceptance from
humans. Help me want to bring praise,
glory, and respect to You. Empower me to
help people see how wonderful and great You are, so they too will turn to You
for help. Only You can help them with
their life.
3. Ask Jesus To Help You Use "The Three
Keys" To Deal With Desire
Mat 7:7 (NIV) Ask and it will be given to you; seek
and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Sometimes
you get a personal desire rather than a godly desire. Sometimes you look at a situation; and, based
on all you can see, the obvious solution or decision is the one you
think is best. Your heart can get so
determined, desirous, and set that it seems impossible for you to want anything
else. This is a dangerous place to
be.
Jesus, sometimes my heart and mind are in conflict
with each other. I know in my mind that
I should talk it over with You. You say
in 2
Corinthians 10:5 (AKJV), Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ. But, my heart refuses to submit to the
truth; it wants what it wants and drives, insists, and pushes me to go in
another direction. Help me win over my
heart and seek Your power to get Your ideas and plans.
4. Ask Jesus To Help You Get The Right Objective
Rom 7:23 (NIV) But I see another law at work in the members of my
body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the
law of sin at work within my members.
While feeling very strong
feelings of desire and a drawing toward a certain plan, person, thing, or
decision, you should ask Jesus to help you with this heart-battle. Your spirit is caught in the middle between
what you know is right (talking the issue over with God), and what your heart
is craving or pushing you toward. You
take this "opportunity of a lifetime" and ask Jesus to help you be willing
to bring the issue to Him. Sometimes
being willing to be willing is the best you can give over to God; but, it is
the start you need.
Jesus, help me take a step before the usual step I
take. Before I ask You to help me with
the plan or decision, help with the fact that my heart is too strong for me to
come to You with that request. Help me
be willing to become willing to bring it to You. I am in a battle with two wills; join me by
helping me be willing to do the right thing. Give me the power to be able to bring
the issue before You for yielded discussion.
5.
Ask Jesus
To Help You Understand The
Situation
Rom 7:24 (NIV) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this
body of death? When your
heart has already decided it wants something and isn't open for
discussion, you are in a tough situation. You know you shouldn't keep God out of the discussion and be this
adamant about it. You know you can't
change your heart and its determination. But, that is where you are emotionally! However, you also know God can change it, if you can just somehow
get it under His control. This is a time
to cry out to Him in prayer.
Jesus,
I get an attitude where I'm not willing to listen to You. I'm not open to listening to Your reasoning
or plan. I get to a place where I can't
hear any opposing views, opinions, possibilities, or potential problems
with my decision. During those times,
help me ask You to empower me to be willing to get willing. Help me bring my will to You for
healing. Help me start feeling the need
to listen to Your reasoning and a better way of doing things.
6. Ask Jesus To Help You Pray The Prayer
James 4:9-10 (NIV) Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy
to gloom. Humble yourselves before the
Lord, and He will lift you up: While you are still being pushed and
subjected to strong desires to take action without consulting God, simply tell
Him what you are going through. Admit to
Him that you are feeling this strong desire and determination to go your own
way. Tell Him that you really don't seem
to want His will or instruction on the matter. Share with Him that you aren't willing.
Jesus,
help me with this desire, drive, craving, or determination. Give me Your love, power, and grace to ease
the pressure. Help me get the strength
to be able to come to You so I can openly and willingly accept other
ideas, alternatives, possibilities, and plans. I can't seem to submit to Your leadership; I need Your help with this
rebellion, resistance, struggle, and turmoil. Empower my will and desire to submit to Your will and desire.
7. Ask Jesus To Help You With The
Suffering
Rom 8:17-18 (NIV) Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs
with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also
share in His glory. I consider that
our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will
be revealed in us. This makes sense to your mind; but, it can't be
reasoned out with your heart. It takes
the power of God to help you give up something your heart really
wants.
So, while wanting something with
every fiber of your heart, you bring God into the struggle. While feeling the pain and drive to go
against those things you have learned with your mind from the Bible, God
empowers you to suffer willingly for the cause of Jesus. You get His help to refuse to go ahead and
take action until you have been empowered to take the issue before Him. It may cause intense pain from your body;
but, you keep asking God to help you not take action until you are brought to a
place where you can discuss it with Him.
Jesus,
I don't like suffering; one of the assignments I have given my heart and mind
have been to do whatever is needed to avoid pain. Now I am faced with a situation where
suffering is inevitable. Empower me to
not make a move; help me to not make a decision; give me the strength to stay
in the realm of suffering while waiting on You. Let me be able to endure the pain of the struggle until my will submits
to Your will. I want to want what You
want.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Fifteen
Heading In The Right Direction
Week Four Day Two
The Power Of Repentance
Luke 15:20 (NIV) So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his
father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his
son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Are You Ready To Make The First Move?
So, he got up and went to his father:
Jesus, when I do wrong, bad, or evil things, as a
Christian, I have all kinds of reactions toward my heavenly Father. There are all kinds of satanic thoughts and
feelings that try to keep me from going to Him. Help me always know that no one loves me like He does; no one is able to
protect me like He can; and no one will give me the truth like He will. Teach me that the moment this young man left
home was the moment he lost all the benefits of life. He lost direction, true friendship, true
meaning for life, guidance and care, and protection.
Do You Believe God Loves You In Spite
Of What You Did?
But while he was still a long way off:
Jesus, make it clear to me that when I finally
decide to open my life to God, I will find that He has been waiting for me all
along. He won't go get me; He won't try
to force me to come back; He won't do anything that causes me to do anything
against my will. But, show me that the
moment I decide I want Him and His help, is the moment He starts coming to
me.
Do You Know What Is Holding Up Your
Help From God?
James 4:8a (NIV) Come near to God and He will come
near to you. You must make the first move in order to invite
God to help you. Since you have a
permission-based relationship with God, He is waiting for you to come to Him
first; that opens the door to the relationship. But, it only opens it to the degree you come to God. If you come to Him for salvation only, that
is the degree of relationship God responds to; the more you come, the more He
comes. The more you study, the more you
know what to come to God for in prayer.
Luke 15:21 (NIV) The son said to him, "Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you. I
am no longer worthy to be called your son."
1.
Are You Ready To Be Untrained So You
Can Be Trained?
I have sinned against heaven and against you: This was a new attitude found in this young
man. His philosophies, belief systems,
plans, and goals were all directed at living a life of selfish pleasure; but,
he felt good about them all. At that
time, he wasn't sorry or repentant about what he was about to do. He actually felt good about what he planned
and how he was going to spend his money. It all seemed right to him; but, now he has a changed attitude.
2.
What Is Better, Having To Repent Or Not Doing It In The
First Place?
Jesus, show me what could have happened if the young
man shared his ideas with his father in the beginning. He would have shown him a much better
way. Help me see that repentance is
good; but, prevention is much better. Show me how memories of sinful pleasure try to drag me back in. Memories of pain haunt me. And, the relationships I developed may still
be in place. Help me take advantage of
God's protection in the first place.
3.
Do You Understand God's Grace Plan?
I am no longer worthy to be called your son: Grace is a concept God created and lives by. It takes the issue of worthiness and removes
it from your relationship with Him. He calls
you His child and removes all record of your past, present, and future sins,
even though you don't deserve it. Then
He ignores your worthiness and what you deserve and simply accepts you as His
child. From that point on, everything
you get from Him are gifts.
4.
Do You Understand God's Forgiveness
Plan?
Jesus' salvation provided forgiveness that opened the door for you to
have a direct relationship with your heavenly Father. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, all your past,
present, and future sins are forgiven. But,
you cannot sin on purpose and remain forgiven. You now have a perfect record with God for as long as you don't sin on
purpose. If you do, you must
repent.
5.
Do You
Understand God's Gifts Plan?
Jesus, help me accept my whole relationship
with God as gifts, grace, and mercy. Help me realize that I can't earn anything, buy anything, trade for
anything, steal anything, or beg for anything from God. His gifts come to me
because I am His child.
6.
Are You Ready To Drop Worthiness and
Establish Appreciation?
Jesus, help me see that if I reject God's gifts,
grace, and mercy because I feel I don't deserve them or aren't worthy, I won't
appreciate them. If I get them because I
feel I do deserve them or are worthy, there's no appreciation because I don't
see them as gifts. Whether feeling
unworthy or worthy, the concept will cause me to reject the things God would
have given me as gifts. I must
accept God's generosity of forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love in faith.
No Inheritance But A Relationship
Do You Believe This Is The Way Your
Father Feels About You?
Luke 15:22 (NIV) But the father said to his servants,
"Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet." The young
man's wealth was gone; but, the most important inheritance and relationship he
had ever had was still there. How did
his dad get so wealthy? How did he get
so successful? What made him such a
generous dad with his sons? These are
the kinds of things you need to consider.
Can
You Start Over and Be Much More Successful?
This dad knew how to help this
young man succeed with his finances, his emotions, his relationships, his
physical, and his spiritual condition. It looked like the young man had lost everything he inherited. But, just because his inheritance was gone
didn't mean he would be poor for the rest of his life. His dad could teach him how to do what he
couldn't do before. Now that he was open
to a close relationship with his father, he was about to learn all the
life-principles that would make him win at life.
What Does Your Future Look Like?
Luke 15:23
(NIV) Bring the fattened calf and kill
it. Let's have a feast and
celebrate.
Jesus, help me understand that there was a great
celebration in heaven when I was born again. Luke 15:7 (NIV) I tell you that in the same way there will be
more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
righteous persons who do not need to repent. Help me forget what I did, who I was, and
what I believed. Help me just believe in
my heavenly Father and know He will transform my future.
Luke 15:24 (NIV) For
this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So
they began to celebrate. God looks at things different than you do. Be ready to be exposed to principles and
concepts that are very foreign to you. Your future is dependent on you seeing things from God's
perspective. That is what the young man
had to do.
Do You See Death as a Separation?
Jesus, help me not look at death as if I no longer
exist. Help understand that God looks at
death as a separation from You. He sees
life as a connection to You. As I read my
Bible, help me see that it will be difficult for me, if I don't allow myself to
start seeing things the way my Father sees them. Show me that part of my life's problems are
because I see things like the world sees them. Help me have life by remaining connected to You.
Do You See Life as a Connection?
Jesus, help me accept that relationships are the
most important thing to You. My
relationship to myself, my relationship with other people, and my relationship
with God are the most valuable things in all the world. Help me put my priority on relationships over
pleasure, wealth, accomplishments, and what the world considers success. Help me see that this is what the younger son
finally discovered.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Sixteen
Did You Know You Control The Quality?
Week Four Day
Three
How To Have A Relationship With
God
1. Pray
That Jesus Helps You Benefit From The Information
Jesus,
help me get the chapters from The Jesus
Life working in my day-to-day activities. But, help me realize that getting Your help can be a small trickle or a
river. Teach me the principle that must
be considered so I can get all You have to offer me.
2. Pray
That Jesus Helps You Have Relationship Growth
James 4:8a (NIV) Come near to God and He will come
near to you: You have times when your opinions,
preferences, and desires are so strong you don't want to discuss them with
God. You have to back up and get His
help to be willing to be willing. But, when you are willing to discuss things with God, it doesn't mean
you are open to His God-sized ideas.
You may want a business that is one size and God may want a bigger
venture. You may want to start slow;
and, God may want you to trust Him for doing things quickly. You may already have faith from Jesus to do
things that are within your "comfort zone." But, when Jesus wants you to ask Him for faith for something that
challenges you, you may close the door.
Jesus,
You are God; Your ideas, plans, and goals are God-sized and supernatural. I can't think, desire, or dream things You
think about all the time. Broaden my
vision; increase my dreams; open me to supernatural plans You have for me. Set me free from my small, human thinking and
planning. Empower me to join You and
Your ways of thinking and living.
3. Pray
That Jesus Helps You Get Relationship Growth Through Time Spent Together
James
4:8a (NIV) Come near to God and He will come near to you: Jesus, in Your parable of the two sons of a very rich, loving,
and generous father, You showed the importance of the sons spending time with
their dad. Help me see that the house
servants had a better opportunity to succeed at life than the boys. Since they saw him in action all day
long. Help me see that in God by
spending all my days with Him.
4.
Pray That Jesus Will Help You Go From Learning To Living
Come near to God and He will come
near to you: Okay, you have looked at a
relationship with God that allows God to give you God-sized assignments;
you have seen the importance of spending time with God; and you have
considered spending quality time with God. That is all important information. But, what do you do after you get the vital
information? You agree with it "in
theory" but don't have it "in reality." You may understand these concepts are truth; but, you may never get the
freedom of them working in your life.
Jesus, I have a lot of problems starting to do
something I have never done before. As I
learn these new things, they come to me while I am already doing something
else. I already have schedules, habits,
strategies, principles, philosophies, systems, and plans in place. As I listen to God-sized goals, about
spending more time with You, and making sure I am spending more quality
time with You, I need Your help fitting it into my schedule, fitting it into my
plans, and making it work in my life.
Pray That God Will Help You Face
The Facts
Do you desire to allow God to increase your faith so you can
believe for bigger things? Do you desire
to spend more time with Him? Do you desire
to spend more time praising, thanking, appreciating, and worshipping Him for
all those things He has already done for you?
Jesus,
help me be willing to be willing; help me bring my desires before
You. Empower me to take my desires
seriously. They decide what happens to
me and what doesn't. You honor them with
great intensity; You will even allow me to make eternal decisions through them. Help me see the important of me having desires
that are yielded to You and Your desires.
Are you willing to spend more time studying about God-sized works
presented in the Bible? Are you willing
to study the importance of spending more time with God? Are you willing to allow your studies
to talk to you about the quality of your relationship with God?
Jesus,
You and Your Word, the Bible, are my only source of truth. I will never learn how to spend quality time
with my heavenly Father without You and it. Empower me to spend as much time as possible studying the Bible
and spending quality time with You. I
want to learn how to be empowered to spend time with You in Your Word.
Are you ready to start praying and asking God for giving
you the ability to envision
God-sized things to start happening in your life? Will you pray and ask Jesus to change your schedule so you can
spend more time with Him? Are you
willing to pray and ask Him to show you more and more things He
wants to do to, with, for, in, and through you? This will make it so you have the information to yield to all He has for
you.
Jesus,
I ask You for the ability to envision God-sized things to start happening in my
life. I ask You to help me change my
schedule so I can spend more time talking with You. Help me see prayer as my way of having
wonderful conversations with You. Help
me spend much more time praying and talking to my heavenly Father about
those things that are on His heart and mind. Help me see that praying and talking to Him is my greatest
asset.
Will you start looking to Jesus for His faith to help get those things
that empower you to believe that God-sized things are coming into your
life? Are you ready to look to Him for
the faith to believe you will spend more time with God? Are you willing to look to Jesus for the
faith to believe that you will spend better quality time with your
heavenly Father?
Jesus,
help me wait until I get Your faith to believe I have God-sized things
in my life, to be able to spend more time with You, and to believe it will be a
better-quality time.
Love
Are you willing to let God search your heart so you can yield to His love? Are you willing to yield to God's love
so you will do God-sized things and help more people? Will you allow God to empower you to spend
more time with Him so you can love yourself, others, and Him more? Are you ready to yield to God's love
so you can love your neighbor as yourself?
Jesus,
help me yield to God's love so I can do God-sized things to help more
people. Empower me to spend so much time
with You that I am able to love myself, other people, and You with God's
love. Help me love God so
much that I share Him and His truths with as many people as possible. Help me do God-sized things so others can see
how great He is.
Faith-Action
Will you start practicing basing your life on the fact that God
has given you all you need to start taking faith-action? Will you start practicing doing things that
are bigger than you are used to doing? Will you start practicing spending more time with God? Will you start practicing working with Jesus
so you can learn how to live a bigger and better life?
Jesus,
empower me to start practicing basing my life on the fact that God has
given me all I need to start taking faith-action. Help me start practicing doing things that
are bigger than I am used to doing. Let
me start practicing spending more time with You. Empower me to work together with You as we
take faith-action together.
Thankful
Will you notice every thing your heavenly Father does for
you so you will appreciate it? Will you
realize that all He gives you is a gift and not something you deserve? Will you appreciate Him and His provisions so
much that your heart is totally thankful? Will you keep a list of all those miracles He
has worked in your life so you never forget how wonderful He has been?
Jesus, before I start griping, requesting, demanding,
or expecting Your help, let me see all the benefits, blessings, miracles, and
gifts I have already received. Help me come
near to God with appreciation, praise, thanksgiving, and
worship. Show me that, that is the only
way I will have a love relationship. Help me spend quality time remembering all the wonderful things You have
done for me already. I want to have a
relationship that is enjoyable, pleasant, and beneficial.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Seventeen
The Older Son
Week Four Day Four
Do You Not Have Time For Fun?
Luke 15:25 (NIV) Meanwhile, the older son was in the
field. When he came near the
house, he heard music and dancing.
Meanwhile,
the older son was in the field: Jesus, help me see that the hard work of the older
son was good. But, he was doing it
because he didn't feel he was worthy of his father's inheritance. Help me work hard, but, not to try to earn
my Father's attention and blessings. Help me not be like him, out in the field trying to do enough good
things so as to get my Father's acceptance and love. Show me, that neither the younger son nor the
older one were spending any time with their father. Show me that I don't have to be off in a
distant country like the younger brother to not be in the house with my
Father.
When he came near the house: You are looking at two distant poles or
life-philosophies. These two approaches
to life are the main reasons why many Christians aren't able to enjoy the
wonderful blessings and provisions of God. Both of these concepts involve you looking to yourself for your
answers. It has to do with how you look
at worthiness; the younger son felt like he deserved wealth, pleasure, and
fun. He didn't appreciate the gift
his father gave him. The older son
didn't feel like he was worthy of his father's gift so he never received
them.
He heard music and dancing: The younger son only considered what he thought
would make him happy. He felt
entitled or worthy to have anything and everything he wanted. The older son thought he knew what would make
him happy. He only considered
what he could do to make himself worthy of value and confidence. He felt his accomplishments would make him
worthy so he could be accepted, respected, and loved. Now you are going to see a type of happiness
that God provides through gifts.
What Gets You Out Of Touch With Your Father?
Luke 15:26 (NIV) So he called one of the servants and
asked him what was going on:
Connection or separation decides
whether or not you know what is going on with God and the things of
God. Off in a distant country or
out in the field both leave you separated from (not connected to)
your heavenly Father.
Jesus, help me not be like this older brother. He had no idea what his father thought, what
his goals were, what he was doing, or why he was so successful at life; But,
he assumed he knew. Help me be pleasing
to God by finding out what He wants me to do. Then help me not walk off and do it. Help me invite Him to join me in fulfilling every assignment He gives
me. Help me maintain a relationship with
Him that is hard work but with Him all day.
He called one of the servants: The servants lived in the house; they were around
the father all the time. They got a
chance to see him in action, to hear him talk, to receive instructions from
him, and to be involved in what he was doing. They weren't his sons; but, the older son knew they knew what was going
on. If you have to have someone else
tell you what God is up to, then you aren't learning how to build a
relationship with your Father.
Are You Struggling With Love Relationships?
Luke 15:27 (NIV) "Your brother has come," he
replied, "and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has
him back safe and sound:" Did the
older brother miss his brother; did he love him; did he care what happened to
him; or, did he only care about himself? These two boys didn't understand what their father knew. But while he [the younger son] was still a
long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for
him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Jesus, even if others do things I totally disagree
with, help me want them to be saved. Help me not be thinking about all the things my Father hasn't done for
me. Help me see that it isn't all about
me. Help me see that others are
suffering worse than I am. If they
repent and want to come home to You, let me love them enough to be glad for all
the rejoicing.
The Secrets Of Your
Heart
Luke 15:28 (NIV) The older brother became angry and refused
to go in. So his father went out and pleaded
with him.
Are You Letting Your Emotions Build Up?
The older brother became angry: The anger was there all along; it was given an
outward expression. Your philosophies,
belief systems, goals, and plans for life may be way off base; but, you
feel free to use them to measure other people and God. You can use them to hate people, disrespect
them, judge them, and gossip against them. The problem with this is that your heavenly Father considers your
treatment of these people as being your treatment of Him.
Where's A Good Place To Release Emotions?
The
older brother became angry and refused to go in: Jesus, help
me see who this son was really mad at. He was mad at his dad! He had a
lot to say to his dad; but, he didn't have the relationship needed to say
it. Help me see if there is anything in
my life that I don't feel free to express to my heavenly Father. Open my heart so I keep my line of
communication with Him flowing all the time. Heal any issues I have with Him or He has with me.
Being busy with work, play, or
rest all take time. If they aren't spent
with the people you need relationships with, then you are separated. If the needs and goals of your life draw you
away from the people you need relationships with, then you are missing out on
God's purpose for putting you on this planet. God wants you spending time with the right people, doing
the right things.
Good Connections Heal Your Heart
So his father went out: It is easy
to see why this dad was so successful; he knew what was important. Even though he was celebrating the return of
his younger son, he still had time for his older son. Even though both of his sons had been
choosing to separate themselves from him, he still loved them and wanted the connection
of a close relationship. His life
demonstrated why he was successful, why he had all that inheritance to
share, and why he was his sons' most valuable asset.
Free To Be Healed Or Stay Sick
So
his father went out and pleaded with him: Jesus, I see the honor of a God-given free will in this story. The father doesn't demand that he get in the
house immediately. He doesn't threaten
him or try to punish him; he reasons with him. Show me that this is my relationship with my heavenly Father. He honors my free will even if that means I
spend eternity separated from Him. He is
reasoning with me; but, I have to respond to His words.
You have the right to stay
mad; you have the freedom to think and feel what you want to. You can run your life the way you want to;
you can have the philosophies, goals, plans and lifestyle you
choose. But, God is pleading with you,
reasoning with you, and helping you understand what life is all about. The Bible is filled with all the reasons God
does what He does. It is filled with Him
explaining to you why He has set things up the way He has. It is just a matter of you being willing
to pour your heart out so He can help you deal with all of it.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Eighteen
Are You
Sure You Should Be Mad?
Week Four Day Five
How To Get Your Emotions Healed
James 1:19-20 (NIV) My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone
should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's
anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
1. Ask
Jesus To Help You "Do What It Takes."
Jesus has exposed you to wonderful Bible concepts that give you love
relationships. They are powerful and
life-fulfilling. In the past, you could
read these things and keep on reading. You could get familiar with the parables and teachings, memorize some of
them, take notes on them, and even teach them to other people. But, have you ever examined your behavior and
found little had changed? What puts the
Bible in your behavior?
2. Ask
Jesus To Help You Discover The Most Important Information In The World
My dear brothers, take note of this: God put this here; but, what if someone doesn't read
this passage? What if they read it but don't take note of this? What if they take note of this but
don't ASK for it to be put into their life? Will their behavior be changed?
Jesus,
I only have so much time in a day and so much time before my life is over. Help me take
note of those things that really matter. I want my life to count; I want it to be the very best I can be in
You. Help me focus in on what really
matters.
3.
Ask Jesus To Help You Get At
The Truth Of The Matter
Everyone should be quick to listen: If you will just listen, you will learn things you
didn't know. Since you have the power to
listen, there will be a lot less misunderstanding and strife. You will be able to treat your spouse,
friends, business associates, customers, clients, family, and people you don't
like better. Listen rather than be
thinking what your response will be.
Jesus,
You, the Bible, my heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit, and Christianity are all
about relationships of love. Empower me
to care so much that I allow people to talk to me. Help me listen to them, ask them questions
for clarification, and give their words the respect they need. Let me get to know them on a higher level
than I typically do.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You With Love
In Action
Everyone should be...slow to speak: What if it was your turn to talk and you asked a
question instead? What if you postponed
your time for getting your concerns out? What if you told them what you were hearing and then asked if that was
what they were trying to say? What if
you didn't speak until all involved knew you knew what was being said?
Jesus,
heal me from only caring about my opinions, views, and rights. Give me Your love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let me so understand and appreciate others
that I can have a relationship with them that is meaningful and godly. Empower me to live righteousness with myself,
others, and You.
5.
Ask Jesus To Give You Freedom
From Excessive Emotions
Everyone should be...slow to become angry: What would happen to your dating, marriage, family, friendships,
business, enemies, and other relationships if you didn't get frustrated, upset,
agitated, mad, or disgusted with them? What if you replaced your short-fuse, impatience, quick responses, and
off-the-cuff answers with your Father's attitudes?
Jesus,
help me have the attitudes and character of my heavenly Father. He has every reason to not respect, love, or
care about us humans. Yet, with all His
greatness, He has an awesome attitude of love, grace, and mercy. Help me live my life with Your power to be slow to become angry. I open my heart to Your healing and
power.
6.
Ask Jesus To Give You A
Righteous Life
For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life
that God desires: We all know
God stands for a life that is a lot different from the way we live. We all know we should treat people better
than we do. We all know there are ways
of dealing with things that would make life much better than it is. But, knowing and doing are two different
things!
Jesus,
I am glad that, as I read Scriptures like this, it isn't putting the demand on
me. Emotions, like anger, are too
powerful for me to be able to handle on my own. But, I now look to You for Your power-relationship that helps me obey
these verses in the Bible. Even though I
know that anger does not
bring about the righteous life that God desires, I won't be
able to do anything about it without You helping me live Your life through
me.
7.
Ask Jesus To Help You Handle Strong Emotions
The
older brother became angry: This anger was there all along; but at this point it was given an
outward expression. You don't just "fly off the handle;" you don't just
"flare up at a moment's notice." Anger
doesn't just explode for no reason; even if you get mad at one person but take
it out on someone else, you had a reason you were angry. A lot of people try to suppress, bury, hold
in, control, or resist these feelings. But, sooner or later they will come out. If you don't "do what it takes" to get Jesus' healing for each thing
buried in your heart, it will show up somewhere in your behavior.
Jesus, there are things in my heart that I have
suppressed, buried, hidden, and tried to control my feelings on. They are down there just waiting for an
avenue of release. I don't remember what
most of them are or what happened to create them. But, You know and can bring healing to each
and every one of them. Help me get set
free from them through the intercession of Your Holy Spirit. Let me yield to His guidance in prayer.
8. Ask
Jesus To Help You "Do What It Takes" To Be Healed From Emotional Problems
If you are like this older son, you get mad about circumstances and
people. What would you have to do for
God to help you with this emotional problem?
DESIRE: Rom
8:5 (NIV) Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set
on what that nature desires; But those who live in accordance with
the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. Jesus, help me desire what the Holy Spirit wants rather than what my body
wants.
STUDY:
2 Tim 2:15 (AKJV) Study to show
yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth. John 8:31-32 (NIV) To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said,
"If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free. Jesus, help me hold to what You teach
rather than what the world teaches so I can be set free.
PRAY: James 4:2 (NIV) You want something but
don't get it. You kill and covet, but
you cannot have what you want. You
quarrel and fight. You do not have,
because you do not ask God. Jesus, help me get my needs met through You rather than trying to get them met through
human effort. Help me pray and ask
for Your help and supplies.
BELIEVE:
Heb 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it
is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe
that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Heb 12:2 (NIV) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the
Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured
the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God. Jesus,
help me believe in You rather than in myself. Let me know I have "what it takes" to win
over life issues.
LOVE: 1 John 2:15 (NIV) Do not love the world or
anything in the world. If anyone loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Mark 12:30-31 (NIV) Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with
all your strength.' The second is this:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than
these. Jesus, help me love myself, other
people, and You rather than loving things. Help me yield to Your love so I can love rather than covet.
FAITH-ACTION: James 2:17 (NIV) In the same way, faith
by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Luke 6:46 (NIV) Why do you call Me, 'Lord,
Lord,' and do not do what I say? Jesus, help me live the Bible rather than just know it.
THANKFUL: 2
Cor 9:11 (NIV) You will be made rich
in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us
your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. Jesus, as you
provide for me and bless me, help me see the importance of being thankful. Help me see that a lack of thankfulness
will keep me from seeing that everything is coming to me through grace, mercy,
love, and generous gifts.
This concludes your reading and prayers for this
week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Nineteen
The Healing Process Starts
Week Five Day One
How To Bring Healing To A
Relationship
Luke 15:29 (NIV) But he answered his father, 'Look! All
these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your
orders. Yet you never gave me
even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
1. Release The Bitterness To God
All these years I've been slaving for you: This young man didn't have any idea what was being
expected of him. Like his younger
brother, he had developed his own criteria for life. His father saw him as his beloved son; but,
he thought his father wanted him to be his slave. However, he finally started talking with his
father and telling him what he thought and felt.
Jesus, teach me that the key to a close and intimate
relationship with my heavenly Father is an open and honest prayer
relationship. Since He already knows what
I am thinking and feeling, help me not keep it bottled up inside me. Sometimes, I feel the pain and suffering like
this older brother was going through. I
too am filled with misunderstandings and erroneous philosophies; but, there are
times when I hold them in. Help me
see that it wasn't until he finally opened up that he started getting
help.
And never disobeyed your orders: When you read the Bible, you can see God giving you
orders. It can feel like all the
responsibility is on you; it isn't clear that God wants to work with
you. Prayer invites your heavenly Father
into your life and gives Him your permission to work together with you. He makes it clear how He wants you to live; but,
He doesn't want you to do it alone; however, if you misunderstand this,
you can feel a lot of pressure.
Jesus, help me see that the reason You gave me The
Three Keys To All Of Christianity was so I wouldn't carry my burdens
alone. I can ask You to help me
with the requirements of the Bible and Christianity. I can get Your help with those things I think
and feel. And through them, I can get
help with the circumstances I am having to face. Help me see that all I have to do is apply
The Three Keys and I will have a wonderful relationship with You.
Yet you never gave me even a young goat: You can see that this young man didn't understand
his inheritance at all. He was a slave
and a hired hand because of his own belief system, philosophies, and
principles for life. His father wasn't
looking at him this way; he respected him as his son. But, he couldn't treat him like a son because
his son wouldn't accept it. Your problem
isn't with God; it's with your belief system, philosophies, and
life-principles.
Jesus, help me see that there are a lot of things I
don't understand about my inheritance. Help me realize that as a child of God, there are major changes I need
to make in my lifestyle. Help me
not keep working out in the field with the hired hands when I am supposed to be
learning how to live in the spirit realm with my Father.
Healing By Identifying The Offense
Luke 15:30 (NIV) But when this son of yours who has
squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the
fattened calf for him!
1. Express The Broken Relationship
But when this son of yours: This young man had rejected his brother as being his
brother. He had mulled these issues over
and over in his mind; and, it killed all relationship and love for his
brother. His brother was just the son of
his father. The younger brother didn't
get any of the older brother's money. The younger brother had the right to spend his money any way he
wanted to. But the older brother
measured the younger brother by his own philosophies for life. Your broken relationships can come from a
distorted view of the way life works.
Rom
12:18-19 (NIV) If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at
peace with everyone. Do not take revenge,
my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is Mine to
avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. Jesus, help
me see that if the way someone else is living is a source of agitation to me,
help me see that my attention is in the wrong place. Show me that the way they live is between
them and God. What I need to deal
with is where I am struggling with God.
2. Express The Reason For The Broken
Relationship
Who has squandered your property: The gift that the father had given the younger son
was an inheritance. Even though it
typically wasn't given prior to a father's death, it was still the younger
brother's inheritance. Once the father
divided his property to both of his sons, the property belonged to those two
boys and not the father. The younger
brother squandered his own property, not his father's property. But, the older brother didn't understand
this principle.
Jesus, teach me that when God gives me a gift, it is
mine to do with as I wish. Even though
others waste their salvation and treat me like sinners treat people, they will
hurt me, offend me, and not be able to love me; but, that is between them and
God. Mat 6:14-15 (NIV) For if you forgive men when they sin
against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their
sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Two Bad Philosophies
You kill the fattened calf for him: Here are the two brothers who have had two wrong types
of relationships with their father. And,
these two types of relationships are similar to the wrong concepts you can get
with your heavenly Father. God wants to
give, bless, love, and care for you; but you can waste it on pleasures of your
body, or try to earn it by human effort.
The younger son demanded that he
be given his inheritance. He didn't
realize the Father didn't have to give him anything. The father could do anything he wanted with
his property as long as he was alive. And, the father could have made a will that dispersed it any way he
wanted, after he died. This demanding
attitude kept him from being able to appreciate the gift. You need to appreciate God's gifts; and,
that can only happen if you see them as gifts.
Father, help me love You. Help me have a relationship with You that
doesn't demand anything from You. Let me
realize that You have already done much more than I will ever deserve. Give me a thankful and respectful heart that
loves You not on the basis of what You can give me, but, based on how wonderful
and loving You are to me.
2. The Waiting And Wishing
Relationship
The older son just kept waiting
and wishing that his father would allow him to have some of his inheritance to
enjoy. His father had already divided
his property between them. The gift
had already been given; the ownership had already be transferred; and the
rights and privileges had already been established. But, like a lot of Christians, the older son
didn't understand the principles of an inheritance.
Father, help me see that even though I may not be
demanding in my relationship with You, that doesn't mean I respect you. I can be obedient, faithful, productive, and
self-sacrificing and still not love or respect You. I can have misunderstandings, bitterness,
frustrations, and anger built up between me and You. Help me lay everything I feel out before You
so You can help me understand how you really feel and what our relationship
really is.
The younger son couldn't
appreciate the gift because he saw it as his right. The older son couldn't appreciate the gift
because he thought he had to earn it. What they needed to do was see it as a gift and then open their heart to
allow the generosity of their father sink into their emotions and
thoughts. Then they needed to allow
their father to teach them how to use it.
Father,
help me learn as much as is possible from these people in this parable. Open it up to its fullest meaning so I can
see how Your Kingdom works, what my inheritance means, how my relationship with
You and my other fellow Christians is supposed to be, and how to get my
attitudes and character healed. Help me
not only understand the meaning of all these things, help me allow them to
transform my lifestyle.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty
Are You Sure It's God's Fault?
Week Five Day Two
How To Stay Close To God
1. Release
The Bitterness To God
Luke 15:29 (NIV) But he answered his father, 'Look! All
these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a
young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. When you
have bitterness in your heart, there are three steps needed for you to be
healed. First, you need to release the
bitterness to God. Second, you need to
reveal what you believe and think the rules are for life and your relationship
with God. Third, you need to reveal the
way you see how your relationship with Him has been going.
DESIRE: Jesus, I don't want to keep the bitterness
and keep feeling sorry for myself; I want Your healing; help me be willing to
be set free from it.
STUDY: Jesus, rather than thinking I know how life
works, help me study the Bible and learn the truth about the way things really
are.
PRAYER: Jesus, rather than praying prayers that are
complaints and gripes about the way I am treated, help me be set free from
bitterness.
BELIEVE: Jesus, rather than me being convinced I
know what is happening to me, give me faith to believe that God is telling me
the truth in His Word.
LOVE: Jesus, rather than using human love and
feeling sorry for myself, help me yield to God's love so I can see things from
His and other people's perspective.
FAITH-ACTION: Jesus, rather than acting on the basis
of feeling like I am being cheated and wronged, help me practice living on the
basis of the fact that God is forcing everything to work together for my good
(Rom 8:28).
THANKFUL: Jesus, rather than me looking at all the
bad things in my life, help practice making a list of all the things I can be
thankful for.
2. Reveal
Your Philosophies To God
And never disobeyed your orders:
You are basing your life on a lot
of beliefs, philosophies, laws, concepts, and ideas that are wrong. You can get mad at God, out of sorts with
people, and frustrated with your own life because you think and believe a lot
of wrong things. How are you going to
find out how life works in your relationship with yourself, others, and
God? How are you going to discover how
God really feels about you? How are you
going to get your heart healed so you can enjoy your relationship with your
heavenly Father?
DESIRE: Jesus, first I ask for the desire to
find out how relationships and life work.
STUDY: Second, I ask You to help me study and
expose myself to Bible truths.
PRAY: Third, I ask You to help me pray and
express to You what I currently believe. And then I ask You to help me get the truths established in my heart and
mind.
BELIEVE: Fourth, I ask You to help me look to You
for faith to believe that this new information is the truth. Help me doubt those things I was previously
thinking.
LOVE: Fifth, I ask You to help me learn how to see
all philosophies, rules, ideas, concepts, and opinions through the eyes of
God's love. Help me see things
from a win/win perspective so God's way will make sense to me.
FAITH-ACTION: Sixth, I ask You to help me practice
taking faith-action for changing the way I treat myself, other people,
and You by taking advantage of the power-relationship I have with You.
THANKFUL: Seventh, I ask You to help me stop and
look back on all of this and see how much You have heard and answered these
prayers. Help me not just accept them,
live on the basis of them and not be thankful. Help me be excited, appreciative, and
impressed with Your incredible love and generosity to me.
3. Reveal
Your View Point To God
Yet you never gave me
even a young goat:
Whether you struggle with feeling
like you deserve God's gifts or you feel like you don't deserve anything from
God, you have to see what an inheritance means. Rom 8:17 (NIV) Now if we are
children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if
indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His
glory. All God's provisions come
because you don't deserve them. That
may seem wrong; but, it isn't until you see that you don't deserve them that
you will see what grace means and what gifts mean.
God is doing you a favor. God is being nice to you. God is being gracious to you. God is being merciful to you. God is being generous to you. God is giving gifts to you through
Jesus. God is taking you, who deserve to
be punished for the way you have treated yourself, other people, and His
wonderful plan and treating you with grace, mercy, and gifts.
Grace is a favor you don't
deserve. And, mercy is you not getting the consequences you do deserve. These attitudes and character traits
originated from God and are gifts. You
can be like the older son. He said: "Yet
you never gave me even a young goat." What
was the truth? He (the father) divided his property between
them. How are you going to start
living on the basis of the fact that you are heirs--heirs of God and
co-heirs with Christ?
1. DESIRE:
Jesus, I haven't desired to live on the basis of the fact that I am one
of the heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. Help me learn what it means so I
will.
2. STUDY:
Jesus, I haven't studied and learned what it means to be heirs--heirs of God
and co-heirs with Christ. Help me
adequately study the Bible and allow You to teach me what it is (knowledge),
what it means (understanding), and how to use it (wisdom).
3. PRAY: Jesus,
I haven't prayed and asked You to help me live as one of God's heirs--heirs
of God and co-heirs with Christ. Help
me live in the basis of the fact that I am one of Your heirs--heirs of God
and co-heirs with You, Christ.
4. BELIEVE:
Jesus, I haven't looked to You to give me faith so I can believe I am one of
Your heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. Give me You faith to believe I am one of
Your heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with You, Christ.
5. LOVE: Jesus,
it has been hard to believe I am one of Your heirs--heirs of God and
co-heirs with Christ. Help me yield to
God's love so I can see how generous He is to me.
6. FAITH-ACTION:
Jesus, I haven't been living on the basis of the fact that I am
one of Your heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. Help that fact to be installed in
my heart and mind so I can join You and start practicing faith-action.
7. THANKFUL:
Jesus, as You answer these prayers, help me see how wonderful it is to be able
to talk directly with You and request these things. Help me be watching for our answers to these
requests and be thankful for You providing them to me. Help me praise You and worship You for being
so loving and generous to me.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty-One
The Faith Relationship
Week Five Day
Three
Luke 15:31 (NIV) "My son," the father said, "you are
always with me, and everything I have is yours."
My son,' the father said: Inheritances are based on sonship; but, they
are also based on gifts. The father could have used all his money and possessions on
himself. Or, he could have given it all
away to anyone or any place he chose to bequeath it. Your relationship with your heavenly Father
is also based on sonship; and is based on His great love and generosity.
Jesus, make it clear to me that God can run the
universe, the world, and me based on any system He wants to. Show me that all this inheriting Him, being
co-inheritor with You, salvation, justification, and sanctification are coming
to me as gifts. But, help me understand
that the only reason they are coming as gifts is because God decided to do it
that way. If He weren't this kind
of a loving, generous, gracious, and merciful God, none of these things
would be available to me.
'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never
disobeyed your orders. Yet you never
gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. One of the
biggest aspects of your relationship with your heavenly Father is faith. When the Bible says God has already done
something, He expects you to accept it as true. This son's father had already divided his property between them. But he believed his father hadn't
even given him a goat. As you read your
Bible, watch out for this kind of an attitude in you.
Jesus, help me read my Bible and believe it as I am
reading it. Let each truth I read be
real and accepted as a fact. Help me
stop and spend time praying, if there is something it says that I am having a
hard time accepting. If I read something
as if it is only true in the Bible and not in my everyday life, help me stop
and let you take it out of my fictional box and put it in my reality box. Help me live the Bible verse-by-verse as I go
through it.
Faith Because Of A Perfect Record
You are always with me: The older son never actually set off for a
distant country. In his mind, he had
stayed in connection with his father. But, there were several areas of separation that existed between him and
his father.
-
He was
separated in his faith; he didn't believe it was true that his father had divided
his property between them.
-
But when this son of yours: He was separated in his attitudes and
character. He didn't agree with the way his
father was handling his younger son or him.
-
I've been slaving for you: He was separated in his philosophies, principles,
and activities; he would leave the house each day and go out in the fields with
the hired hands, rather than spend time with his father.
Jesus, like this older brother, my father is
graciously crediting my record with me always being with Him. Like him, when my father tells me something I
should have already known help me believe it. He can tell me something that could heal my heart and heal my
relationship with Him. It is something
that could change my whole approach to life. It is something that could help me be
set free from being a slave and a hired hand. It is a truth that could set me free from those things
that are controlling my life.
1. You
are always with me: This son's father was right there ready
to have a close and intimate relationship with his son. The proximity was there, the opportunity was
there, the love was there, and the truth was there. But, the son wasn't available in his
heart.
2. Everything I
have is yours: This is a sad situation; all the anger,
frustration, hatred, and lack of forgiveness were eating up this older son's
life.
-
He was rich
but lived like he was poor.
-
He was the
owner of all the property and yet he was out working with the hired hands.
-
He was mad
at his father because he wouldn't give him a young goat so he could
celebrate with his friends. And
yet, his father had given him the rest of all he had.
Jesus, teach me that demanding relationships are so
sad because I end up squandering my wealth in wild living. And, teach me that waiting,
wishing, and earning relationships are so sad because I end up mad because
people and God don't appreciate and respond to all my efforts. Keep teaching me what kind of a relationship
my Father want to have with me.
The Grace And Faith Relationship
Luke 15:32 (NIV) But
we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours
was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.
The younger son had faith in
pleasure bringing him happiness. The
older son had faith in his accomplishments bringing him happiness. The father had faith in the love of God and
it brought him happiness. You get
happiness when you love yourself, other people, and God with God's love. You are to use money and possessions to demonstrate
your love.
We
had to celebrate and be glad: Jesus, help me see that the problems these two boys
had were with "things." They were both
connected to money and possessions. Their attention and focus were centered on what "things" could do for
them. They both put all their plans,
goals, efforts, and life into trying to get happiness through these things. Help me be free from a life of things. Help me be a person with a priority on
relationships.
It Is About Who Or What You Use
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this
brother of yours was dead and is alive again: Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 (NIV): "No one can
serve two masters. Either he will hate
the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve both God and
Money." It is like trying to
ride two horses that are going in opposite directions. You are to love people and use money; you
aren't supposed to love money and use people; these are opposing concepts and
conflicting ways of life.
The distraction of money,
possessions, positions, power, popularity, prestige, pleasure, and
accomplishments pull your focus onto things. You concentrate on them; you set them as goals; you make all your
plans around them; you build your relationships so you can get them; and you
ignore anyone who can't help you fulfill them.
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this
brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found: God has a much better way for you to live
life. He has a much better way for you
to look at things and people. He has a
way of life that gives you eternal life.
Jesus, I have an awesome Father! He has already done so much for me. Help me love Him for Who He is rather than
what He can do for me. Help me see all
the decisions He has made for Who He has decided to be and what He has decided
to do. Help me never forget that He has
absolute power, authority, and control. Help me understand what all that means so I will never take for granted
His greatness, love, generosity, grace, mercy, and sacrificial provisions. Open my heart to my heavenly Father so I can
love and respect Him with all my heart.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty-Two
Did You Know You Inherited God?
Week Five Day Four
How To Live In Your
Inheritance
1.
Ask Jesus To Help You Choose Your Approach To Life
Suppose you read the Bible through many times. But, you read it only wishing you had the
things it told you about? What if you
read it as a book of fiction and lived in an "imaginary" world while reading
it? It would be fun thinking about what
"could" be, if only it were true for you and your life! But, it would only be a dream that was out of
your reach.
2.
Ask Jesus
To
Help You Understand That "Everything I Have
Is Yours"
-
Rom
8:17a (NIV) Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and
co-heirs with Christ. Jesus, help
me start living as an heir.
-
Phil
4:19 (NIV) And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious
riches in Christ Jesus. Jesus, help
me look to my Father as my source of supply.
-
Mark 11:24 (AKJV) Therefore I say unto
you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive
them, and you shall have them. Jesus, help
me help me start desiring, praying, and believing for what my Father wants for
me.
-
Mat
11:28 (NIV) Come to Me, all you who are
weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Jesus, help me live my life based on rest rather than on stress.
Bible filled with all these
wonderful promises and truths. Are you
living as the heir your Father want you to be? Are your needs met where your Father wants to meet them? Are you desiring,
praying, believing, and receiving those things your Father wants you to have? Are you living the rest Jesus is
offering you? Ask your heavenly Father;
and He will tell you.
Yet You Never Gave Me Even A Young Goat
DESIRE:
Jesus, You won't give me what I don't want; give me Your desires.
STUDY:
You won't give me things I don't know are mine; teach me the truths of the
Bible.
PRAY:
You won't give me things I don't ask for; help me ask for all You have to
offer.
BELIEVE:
You won't give me things I don't believe for; give me Your faith for all of
them.
LOVE:
You won't give me things I am not motivated by love for; help me yield to Your
love.
FAITH-ACTION:
You won't give me things I won't put into practice. Help me live it!
THANKFUL:
You won't keep giving me things, if I don't appreciate them. Help me be thankful.
3. Ask Jesus To Help You Get The Keys
Why do you lock the doors to your house, your car, and your
valuables? Which people do you give the
keys to all of these things? Why will
the bank give money to one person and not another? Why do some people get God's blessings,
healing, truths, and help and not others?
Mat
28:19-20 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age. Jesus, teach
me why it isn't enough to know everything You have commanded; teach
me why I must obey them. Teach
me why people are blessed by the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12. Teach me why I can't be blessed without
them.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You Not Be Locked Out Of Your
Own Inheritance
You can be locked out of your own car or home, if you lose or
forget your keys. You can be refused your
money from the bank, if you don't "do what it takes" to get it. You can be kept from benefiting from all your
rights and privileges in your own town or country, if you break certain
laws. You must fill out forms, prove
your identity, get licenses, do work, and fulfill obligations before you get
all kinds of things in this world; and, you accept that as normal.
Jesus,
set me free from getting frustrated with You, when You require me to follow
Your systems for getting those things You have provided me. Help me realize that the things You require
make me qualified to be able to get them. If I am not qualified, not certified, or not authorized to get, have,
and use a certain provision of God, help me know there is a very good reason
for it. Help me accept that it would
either hurt me, other people, or Your wonderful plan. Help me be willing to get the right attitudes,
training, and character before certain things can come to me from
You.
5. Ask Jesus To Help You Know
He Is
Faithful
If God gave you His provisions and you didn't have the right attitudes,
character, and training for them, it would cause you to be faced with
temptations of pride, misconceptions, abuse, and harm. Every person, everywhere would use God's
provisions for the wrong reasons, on the wrong people, and get the wrong
results. But, God
is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear (1 Cor
10:13).
Jesus, help me yield to You making sure I am a
person who can handle the power-relationship with You. You are doing it before You start giving me
those things we all need. Help me
appreciate Your incredible love and wisdom that You are using in our
relationship.
6. Ask Jesus To Help You Be Healed From This Human Decision
Luke 15:11-12 (NIV) Jesus continued: "There was a man who
had two sons. The younger one said to
his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his
property between them. This opened the doors to the youngest son where he squandered
his wealth in wild living. He
wasn't trained enough to handle the provisions because he spent his time
planning how HE wanted to spend his inheritance. This opened the door for the older son to
doubt the honesty and integrity of his dad. He missed the whole point and told his dad he didn't even give him a
goat. He wasn't
trained enough to handle the provisions because he spent his time doing
what he thought was necessary for him to get his inheritance.
Father, You are smarter, wiser, more powerful, and
much more capable of making decisions for me than this dad. When I ask for things that would hurt me,
those around me, and Your special plan, You tell me, "no!" If I am like the younger son, I would get mad
at You for "not answering my prayer." If
I am like the older son, I would be glad You said, "no." I would be thinking I needed to earn the
right to get the inheritance. I wouldn't
know my inheritance is based on gifts. Help me appreciate the fact that You tell me "no" sometimes.
7.
Ask Jesus To Help You See His Gifts In Seven Ways
-
DESIRE:
Rom 8:5 (NIV) Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds
set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the
Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. Jesus,
I thank You for this gift of desire and mind-set at the moment of
salvation (Romans 7:15-25).
-
STUDY: 2 Tim 3:16 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that
the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Jesus,
I thank You for this gift of studying
the Bible that transforms, trains,
empowers, and sets me free.
-
PRAY: Heb 4:16 (NIV) Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help
us in our time of need. Jesus, thank You for these gifts of
grace and mercy given to me even though
I don't deserve them. When I come to God
with Your gift of prayer,
I approach the throne of grace with confidence; thank You for free access to my heavenly Father!
-
BELIEVE: Rom 10:17 (NIV) Consequently, faith comes from hearing
the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Jesus,
I thank You for the gift of faith that
You speak into me so I can believe I received salvation, all its
benefits, and all those things that have come through my inheritance.
-
LOVE: Rom 5:5 (NIV) And hope does not disappoint us, because God
has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given
us. Jesus,
I thank You for the gift God's love
at salvation.
-
FAITH-ACTION: James
2:20 (NIV) You foolish man, do you want
evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Jesus,
I thank You for the gift of Your life;
it makes it possible for me to join You. It empowers me to live in cooperation with You. Your power-relationship enables me to take
faith-action in putting all the Bible principles into practice in my life.
-
THANKFUL:
Heb 12:28-29 (NIV) Therefore, since
we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful,
and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our
"God is a consuming fire." Jesus, I thank
You for showing me all these things as gifts so that I am able to praise and thank
You for them.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty-Three
Sin Separates; Salvation Connects
Week Five Day Five
How To Remain
Connected
The parable about the two sons of
a very rich, loving, and generous father is first about disconnection. And then there is a gradual work on becoming
connected. You are looking at the older
brother who separated himself from his father by going out and working with the
hired hands every day. He was mad at his
father and mad at his brother and was refusing to come into the house because
of his anger. But, his father came out
to reason with him; he is working with his older son trying to help him move
into a connected relationship.
This brother of yours was dead: When you fight, hate, cheat, lie against, gossip
about, or steal from people, you create a gap or separation between you and
them. Once again, God considers death to
be a separation. When you die, your
spirit is separated from your body. When
you die spiritually, you are separated from God. Because the younger brother had set off for
a distant country, he separated
himself from the family.
Jesus, help me see that so many people are "dead" to
each other; not because of a geographical distance; it is because of their
lies, cheating, coveting, jealousy, hatred, and fighting. Show me that these spiritual diseases of sin
are hurting them, damaging them, separating them, and killing them. Help me appreciate You for Your salvation
which came at a great cost so I can have meaningful and enjoyable
relationships.
This brother of yours was dead and is alive again:
God's major objective is to bring people back
together in love. Just as separation
is death, connection is life; when you connect to yourself, others, and
God, it is life; that is when you really start living. If you love with God's love, that He has
poured into your heart (Romans 5:5), you will discover the real meaning of
life. It will define success,
happiness, purpose, and meaning as to who you are and what you should be doing
in life.
This
brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was
lost and is found: Jesus, You can easily create universes and all kinds
of things; But when it comes to people, with a God-given free will, help
me see that it takes major miracles to bring them together in love. It took all the work, suffering, and death by
You to make it possible for me to move from a love for things to a love for
relationships. Help me really
take advantage of this great provision of Your salvation?
What
Is Important?
In Jesus' parable, there was a
father, an older son, and a younger son. The father knew what was important; the older and younger sons didn't
know what was important in life. The father was very successful at life and relationships; the two
sons weren't. What weren't the two sons
doing that would have brought great success and joy to their life? They didn't know how to handle things.
Jesus, You are most important in my life. Show me what I should be doing, that would
help me avoid the pitfalls of these two examples. Teach me the way for me to spend time with my heavenly Father. Teach me the truth that I can
gain from my heavenly Father. And teach
me the life I can live
with my heavenly Father. You are my way, my truth, and my life to my
heavenly Father
John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and
the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through Me.
Jesus is kind of like the road or
path that led back to these two sons' dad. There was a way or road that led both sons away from their father. The younger son set off for a distant
country by taking a road that led him into sin and suffering. Then he took a way or path back to his
father. I will set out and go back to
my father.
The older son walked down a way
or path that led him away from his father each day; the older son was in the
field. Then there was a way or path
that led him back to his father. When
he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. This way or path brought him close enough
so as to bring his father out to talk with him.
Just like these two sons had to
travel down a path or road back to their father, you have to travel spiritually
down the salvation path through Jesus. He is your way into being helped, healed, blessed, and given the
victorious Christian life. Jesus isn't just
the way to your
heavenly Father, He is the truth about Him, and He is your life with
Him.
Jesus, in order for me to get connected to a
wonderful relationship with my heavenly Father, and in order for me to spend
quality time "at home" talking to Him, help me "travel" through You. Just like the two sons in Your parable needed
to spend a lot of time in the house with their father, I need to do that
too. Help me not only get to Him through
Your salvation, help me flow through You into spiritual growth. Help me grow into the most incredible love
relationship with Him that is possible.
Jesus is your way into the
"house" where your heavenly Father is. He can "transport" you down a spiritual path to the truths that
set you free. He can provide you
with an eternal life that is lived in connection with your heavenly
Father. And it all involves you staying
connected to Jesus so that you can be connected to your Father.
Jesus, teach me how to gain greater access to
God through You. Teach me how to
be constantly connected to my Father. Teach me that the concept of being and staying connected are
expressed in the word "remain." Show me
that staying connected or remaining in You is my next series of training. Help me see that the healing process of
connection is accomplished through Your training in John 15:1-17. Let me learn what it will take to stay
connected or remaining in You.
In John 15:1-17, the words
"remain in" or the concept representing them are going to be used thirteen
times. We all understand what "remain
in" typically means; but, this time it is in reference to staying
connected to, staying in contact with, and staying in a
relationship with Jesus to your heavenly Father. Staying connected is the training here.
The Grapevine Illustration
In John 15:1-17, Jesus uses the
example of a grapevine; He explains, in this example, that He is the vine, His
Father is the gardener, and you are the branch that grows off of this
vine. You can understand that branches
can only stay alive for as long as they are attached to the vine; that
is what is meant by "remain in." He is
telling you that you have to stay attached to, dependent on, and looking to Him
for going the right way, for living based on the truth, and being able to live the Christian life.
Dealing With Life Issues
Jesus, help me be fully trained in the purpose of
Your training in the passage in John 15:1-17. Help me see what it is going to take
to get healed, helped, and changed with the issues, struggles, and difficulties
I face in life. Help me see that just
like grapevines contract diseases, get attacked with insects, and struggle with
hot sun and cold weather, I get attacked with temptations, circumstances,
people, and personal struggles. Help me
learn how to remain in You so I can win over these things.
By yielding to Jesus as your
source of nourishment, provisions, and power, you will get the healing, help,
and miracles you need. This is so you
can become victorious over all life's problems and relationships. Jesus will help you make decisions and head
in directions that help you see your dreams fulfilled. All you have to do is follow Jesus'
instructions and you will be on your way into the solutions you need. All you have to do is follow Jesus'
instructions and you will reach the best goals possible.
Learning What Jesus Has To Say About Grapevines
John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me. Your
path from where you are now to where you need to travel into a special
relationship with your Father is Jesus. No matter if it is from a distant country or from a field where
you are trying to serve you Father, Jesus is your way to remaining in your
Father. He is going to teach you how to
take the spiritual journey using spiritual legs to make the trip.
Jesus, help me understand that if I am going to stay
"in the house" and spend time with my heavenly Father, I am going to have to
travel down the path or WAY that You provide. If I am going to be taught the truths of my heavenly Father, I
have to learn them through You. If I am going to spend time with my heavenly Father, I am going to have
to have the life that comes from You. You are the only way, the only truth, and the
only life I gain by
staying "in the house" with my heavenly Father. Help me get ready to listen to what You have to say about being
connected to You and my Father.
Your
Guide Into Jesus and Your Heavenly Father
John 16:13 (NIV) But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide
you into all truth. He will not speak
on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet
to come.
John 16:14 (NIV) He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine
and making it known to you.
John 16:15 (NIV) All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from
what is Mine and make it known to you.
The Holy Spirit inside you is
ready to connect you to Jesus Who will connect you to your heavenly
Father.
This concludes your reading and prayers for this
week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty-Four
Are You On The Right Path?
Week Six Day One
How To Travel With Jesus
1. Ask
Jesus To Help You Choose Your Path Wisely
Today, you will be looking at how your life-path; roads, streets,
avenues, paths, highways, turnpikes, and expressways control your
destination, when you get on them. If you get on the wrong one, it takes you where IT is going. Making sure you get on the right path is very
important. When you think you are
on the right path, you don't look for a way to get off.
Both the younger and the older sons in Jesus' parable thought they
were on the right path. The younger one
found out he was wrong by experiencing the consequences of reaching his
destination. The older one found out by
discussing it with his father. However,
both of them suffered for quite some time before they discovered they were
on the wrong road!
Jesus, I am already on a road, it is already taking
down a career path, a relationship path, an emotional path, a financial path,
and a life path. If I am on the wrong
road, help me find a way off. Help me
get on the way You want me to travel.
2.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand Destination Consequences
Salvation puts you on the right
path; but, it doesn't have walls on each side of it. You can wander off, make a turn, or veer off
onto a path that takes you away from your heavenly Father. What if you get a job "opportunity" and
decide to take it without talking to Jesus? What if you start a relationship with someone that you didn't talk to
Jesus about?
Jesus, there are so many "opportunities" in life
that look good to me; but, they end up taking me in directions I didn't mean to
go. I get results I didn't think I would
get. I get trapped on a turnpike or
freeway that doesn't have an exit for miles and miles. Help me realize that the job, the career, the
person, the contract, the commitment, or the decision will prove to be more
difficult to get out of than I thought. Help me consult You before I make my decision.
3.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand Destination Benefits
John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
Me. Yes, Jesus is the way into your relationship with
your heavenly Father; but, what happens when you don't stay there? Jesus was your way to get to your heavenly
Father; and, He still is! Jesus was your
truth about your heavenly Father; and, He always will be! Jesus led you into a life with your
heavenly Father; and, He is willing to continue to do so!
What if you drove up to a house
address where you wanted to spend some time, but, you drove right past it? You got on all the right roads and streets
and headed in all the right directions; but, you didn't stop and stay there,
once you got there. What can draw you
away from the destination you needed to arrive at? You can get distracted; you can get confused;
you can get wrong information; and you can change your mind.
Jesus, I don't just need You to help me get on the
right path; I need You to help me stay on it. Help me remain in You. Show me how to get connected to You and stay
connected to You. This is a totally new
way of life for me. I don't always
understand how to live this life of truth and spiritual power. I need Your training, Your guidance, and Your
power-relationship. Teach me how to live
by joining You in Your life and staying there.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You Know What To Do When The Right Road Looks Wrong
Have you ever taken the right
turn and got on the right road or street but it just didn't "feel" or look
right? Somehow things didn't look the
way you remembered them. It is at that point
you can wander off and try other paths; or, you can get a map, ask someone who
knows, find a road sign, or check your GPS.
Using Romans 7:15-25 let's pray
about the kinds of decisions you should make about remaining in Jesus so you can stay in constant contact
with your heavenly Father:
What if you took the path or way
into Jesus' salvation, got up the next day, went to work and did a bunch of
things you knew you shouldn't be doing? So, you reasoned with yourself and said: "I do not understand
what I do." All day long what I
want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do (Rom 7:15). Then you say to yourself, I must be on
the wrong road!
Jesus, like the Scripture in Romans 7:15, I make so
many mistakes; and, I don't just make them once. I do some of the same things over and over
again. Help me realize that You are
still my answer. Help me remain in
constant contact with You. Help me
believe that You will teach me a way to live a life that will be based on truth that will
set me free.
5.
Ask
Jesus To Help You Not Neglect
All The Right Information
What if you didn't know anything
about Romans 7:15-25? What if you became
a Christian and didn't know that if I do what I do not want to do,
I agree that the law is good (Rom 7:16). What if you do what you do not want to do and you
think you didn't actually get saved? So,
you get off of that road and go back to your old life.
Jesus, help me realize that all Christians start out
not knowing how to take advantage of the way You do things. We all start out not knowing Your truth that sets
us free. We all lack the training and
power to live the life You have given us. Help me remain in You and know that You will show me the way into Your truth so I can
live Your life.
What if you discovered salvation
but didn't learn anything about justification? You wouldn't know Jesus gave you a clean record through justification;
you wouldn't know that: "As it is, it is no longer I myself who do
it, but it is sin living in me (Rom 7:17). Since you didn't know these truths, you might drive right on past
salvation and go somewhere else.
6. Ask
Jesus To Help You Understand New Or Untrained Christians
What if you didn't know what God is looking for in a true, new or
untrained Christian? What if you were
like the younger son and thought that once you did what it took to become a
Christian, you could go out and live any way you wanted? Or, what if you were like the older son and
thought you had to work your way into being a Christian?
Your heavenly Father is waiting on those who are purposely going out and
sinning to realize that isn't the way a Christian is allowed to live. And, your heavenly Father is waiting on those
who are doing "their very best" at doing what they think it takes to be a good
Christian. He is waiting for both types
of people to realize three things found in Romans 7:18:
Jesus, teach
me that I am not my answer for getting my life straightened out; only You can
do that. Teach me these three Bible
principles in Romans 7:18 so I can keep moving forward in my spiritual growth.
1. I know that nothing good lives in me,
that is, in my sinful nature. Jesus, help
me accept this truth: Let me realize that there is nothing good in me. My body wants to experience extreme
pleasure. And, it wants to work its way
into salvation so it can strengthen its self-esteem and self-confidence. But, only You, Jesus, can set me free from
this body of death.
2. For I have the desire to do
what is good.
Jesus, THIS
is what You are looking for in all new and untrained Christians. Teach me that neither those who go out and
sin on purpose, or those who try to work their way into salvation will
be accepted as Christians in Your sight. Show me that only those who have the desire to do what is good
are true Christians. Help me believe
You gave me this desire, when I received salvation.
3. But I cannot carry it out.
Jesus, teach
me the main point of Romans 7:15-25; make this truth real to me; I cannot
carry it out. Show me that, if I am
going to live the Christian life, I am going to have to put my faith, trust,
reliance, and dependency on You, Jesus, and keep it there. And, keeping it there is what I am asking You
to teach me in John 15:1-17.
You will be taking each verse in
John 15:1-17 and seeing how The Three Keys To All Of Christianity will bring
you into a close, intimate, and permanent relationship with Jesus. That is when you will get victory in life
through the life of Jesus. Whatever you
need, whatever you want, whatever the plan of God is for your life, the
Jesus-life is the answer you are looking for.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty-Five
Following Jesus' Teachings In John 15:1-17
Week Six Day Two
John
15:1 (NIV) I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener.
Living Out Your Purpose Through Matthew 5:3-12
You grow grapevines to produce
grapes; if the branches don't do that, they cease to fulfill their
purpose. God's purpose for creating
humans is to produce good relationships. And, good attitudes and character produce good relationships, which are
the good fruit God is looking for.
Poor In Spirit: Open To God's
Teaching: Matthew 5:3
Jesus, teach me that good attitudes open my heart
and mind to me being willing to learn things from my heavenly Father. Help me see that the two sons, in Your
parable, had bad attitudes. They were
unwilling to sit down with their father and learn all the wonderful things he
knew. Make it clear to me that the
reason they weren't teachable was because they lacked the first power-attitude
found in the Beatitudes called, "poor in spirit."
Mourning: Open To God's Correction:
Matthew 5:4
The two sons in Jesus' parable
had a bad attitude about facing their mistakes and weaknesses. They weren't able to improve because they
weren't willing to see that they had any problems or made any mistakes. There were things wrong with them that were
hurting them deeply.
Jesus, help me understand that the two sons lacked
God's power-attitude of mourning to be able
to see these weaknesses and personal flaws and repent. They had to go through a lot of suffering
because they lacked it, weren't able to feel bad about it, couldn't cry over it
(release the pain and damage in their heart), and repent (make a U-turn).
Meekness: Open To God's Leadership
And Expertise: Matthew 5:5
Jesus, the two sons in Your parable had a bad
attitude about who was an expert and a reliable source of information. They considered themselves to be the one who
had all the answers. Show me that the
power-attitude of God's meekness would have
empowered them to see that their dad was really the expert. It would have shown them that he had the
experiences, training, attitudes, and character needed. He would have advised them and helped
them avoid all the mistakes, pain, and suffering they went through.
Righteousness: Only Doing Good:
Matthew 5:6
The two sons in Jesus' parable
had a bad attitude about how to treat themselves, other people, and God. The younger son led himself and others into
the spiritual diseases of sin. He used
his money to corrupt and pervert himself and those around him. The older son convinced those with him to
work hard rather than follow the father to be successful in life.
Jesus, teach me that righteousness is putting people
and relationships above anything else. Its priority is to make sure everyone is able to win and that no one is
sacrificed in the process. Selfishness,
bitterness, a love for accomplishment, things, and money all tore the two sons
away from righteousness. Help me learn
from your illustrations and examples how to yield to these power-attitudes of
God. Let them open my heart to all the
truths that set me free and change the very fiber of my life.
The Beatitudes: Learning The System Of God
Your success or failure in life all depends on your attitudes and
character. God wants you to grow in this
area by making it your priority so your relationships will be very rewarding
and beneficial.
The way to keep a grapevine from
just growing branches and producing leaves is pruning. The purpose of a grapevine is to grow grapes;
but, it has a tendency to spend all its time and effort on growing more
branches and leaves. When this happens,
the gardener cuts off the excess growth. This causes the branches to put more of their effort into producing
grapes.
Jesus, show me that if I just grow "leaves" I am a
person who only does those things that benefit me. My focus is inward, selfish, prideful, and
even destructive of others. If I do
succeed, I will do so at the expense of other people. Help me produce fruit as well as leaves.
All the people on this planet are
like a large vineyard; God evaluates each person like a gardener evaluates
branches on a vine. He looks at the way
each person treats themselves and others. If they are "branches" who are yielding to the "sap" provided by Jesus,
they will have all the supply they need for doing good things and not bad
things to themselves and others.
Jesus, protect me from getting my training,
character, and attitudes from sources that cause me to start mistreating myself
and others. Show me that I will not be
able to produce the "fruit" of good things in my behavior. My emphasis, goals, plans, and efforts will
be about "things" rather than people and relationships. Help me stay connected to You.
Getting The Training And Power You
Need
As you go through this vital set
of instructions for how to succeed in life, you will see that Jesus is your
source of power to "bear fruit." Which
means He is the only One Who has the information. And, He is the only One Who has the power to
live the information that helps you treat yourself and others the right
way.
Father, help me see that You are my enhancement in
"fruit" production. You are the One Who
will be helping me do a lot of good things to myself and other
people. Jesus is giving me all I need in
training and power, and helping me be a person who is able to live a life of
doing good. You are deciding who will be
a part of Your "vineyard." Empower me to
not only be a branch in Your vineyard but a top producer in it.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty-Six
How Are You Going To
Be Open To
All Jesus Has?
Week Six Day Three
How To Be Receptive
To Jesus'
Teachings
John 15:1 (NIV) I am
the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. As you look again at the four main
Beatitude items in Matthew 5:3-12. Let Jesus
help you understand that these power-attitudes functioning in your life open
the door to the things of God. They are
doors in your heart that give you the attitudes and power to be receptive to
what Jesus is teaching.
1. Ask
Jesus To Help You With Your Attitudes
You will be praying about four power-attitudes that God gives people;
they empower you to live a victorious life. As you can see, the two sons in Jesus' parable would have been greatly
helped if only they had these four power-attitudes from God. The big issue is, a lot of people read about
these in the Bible, see Jesus says all who have them will receive special
blessings from God, and then move on. Or, they try to install them in themselves by their own efforts.
When you are on a reading schedule where the goal is to read a certain
number of chapters in the Bible a day, you don't have time to "do what it
takes" to get them. If you don't read
the Bible regularly, you never find out about these power-attitudes that bring
God's special blessings. If you are on a
study program that is aimed at teaching you what the Beatitudes are and what
they mean, you may learn a lot about the Beatitudes. But, it is only when you have a way
to get them flowing in your life that you get these four power-attitudes
from God and the blessings they bring. Why read or study the Bible, if it doesn't change and transform
you?
Jesus,
deliver me from schedules, rituals, systems, and procedures that don't apply
The Three Keys to my life. I want Your
power to use Your three keys to all of Christianity. Show me that without them, I just read,
study, memorize, take notes, and even teach them to others without the power to
live them. As I pray once again over
these four power-attitudes of God, help me see that they are going to help me
be open to all I read in the Bible.
2.
Ask Jesus To Help You
Take
His Word For It
Mat 5:3 (NIV) Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 (NIV) Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Mat 5:5 (NIV) Blessed are the meek, for they
will inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6 (NIV) Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
3. Ask
Jesus To Help You Get His Power-Attitudes
There is a big difference in being gullible and being teachable through
the power-attitude of poor in spirit. There is a big difference in feeling bad about your words and deeds and
the power-attitude of mourning. There is a big difference in choosing your professionals and experts and
having the power-attitude of meekness. And there is a big difference between being a good person and having the
power-attitude of hungering and thirsting for righteousness. If you read the Bible, read a commentary on
what being poor in spirit is, and then take all that information and try to apply
it to your life, you will get something else other than God's
power-attitudes.
Jesus,
help me not try to get Your power-attitudes through anything other than
desiring them, allowing You to teach me what they are by receiving them through
the Bible, praying and asking for them, waiting for You to give me the faith so
I can believe You gave them to me, receiving them and living them
through Your love, and then joining You as You empower me to live them through
faith-action. I want God's real
power-attitudes in my life.
Even if you don't have a full concept of what these four power-attitudes
from God are, you can still start the process of getting them into your
life.
1.
Jesus,
I don't know exactly what these power-attitudes are; but, since You told me
that the people who have them get special blessings, and since I trust You, I desire
them. Put a deep desire in my
heart for them.
2.
Lead
me into studying those Scriptures that explain what they are. Help me yield to the explanations from the
Holy Spirit as to what they mean and what they will look like in my life.
3.
I
want to know what each of these four Beatitude power-attitudes from God
are. So, I am praying and asking
You to teach me what they are and what they do.
4.
I
don't want some attitude that I or other people say I need. I want the kind of power-attitudes that only
You can give me. You will give me
attitudes that aren't flawed, weak, prone to failure, or will mislead me. So, I ask You to give me Your faith to believe
I am receiving the real Beatitudes that God intended for me to
have.
5.
Jesus,
if I want or get anything that isn't motived by love, then,
according to 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, it will be useless to me, others, and
God. So, I ask You to give me these Beatitudes for the purposes of me
benefiting from Your love; and, help it flow through me into others and
to You.
6.
Jesus,
You and I are now at the place where together we are ready to start practicing living
on the basis of the fact that I have received these power-attitudes
from You. So, I now ask You to help me
practice faith-action and start living out the four power-attitudes from
You.
7.
Jesus,
since you have given me these power-attitudes, I thank You for allowing
me to have such wonderful gifts. Help me
always appreciate them, be thankful for them, and praise You for what
they are doing to my character and attitudes.
4. Ask Jesus To Use These Power Attitudes To Help You
Be Receptive
Poor In Spirit: Open To God's
Teaching: Matthew 5:3
Jesus, create good attitudes in me; let them open my
heart and mind to being willing to learn from You, the Holy Spirit, and my
heavenly Father. Set me free from the
bad attitudes of the two sons, in Your parable. Make me poor in spirit so I am willing to sit down with my Father
and learn all the wonderful things He knows. I want to have the teachable and humble spirit from this power-attitude
in the Beatitudes called, "poor in spirit."
Mourning: Open To God's Correction:
Matthew 5:4
Jesus, help me accept the fact that there are times
when I have a bad attitude about facing my mistakes and weaknesses. Show me that I won't be able to improve if I
am not willing to see that I have problems and make mistakes. I have things wrong with me that are hurting
me deeply. Teach me how to mourn over them
until my heart and life are healed.
Reveal to me that I lack Your power-attitude of mourning. Show me that without it I will remain unable
to see my weaknesses and personal flaws. Teach me that as long as I lack it, I won't be able to feel bad about it
(listen to my conscience), cry over it (release the pain and damage in my
heart), and repent (make a U-turn); that will improve my future.
Meekness: Open To God's Leadership
And Expertise: Matthew 5:5
Jesus heal me from the bad attitude about who are my
experts and reliable sources of information. Keep me from considering myself to be the one who has all the
answers. Give me Your power-attitude of meekness
so I can see that my heavenly Father really is the expert. Teach me that He had the experiences,
knowledge, attitudes, and character needed. He can advise me and help me avoid all the mistakes, pain,
and suffering I go through.
Righteousness: Only Doing Good:
Matthew 5:6
Jesus, I have a bad attitude about how to treat
myself, other people, and You. I have
involved people in sin. I have caused
myself and those around me to use money and other resources to spend a lot of
time damaging ourselves. Forgive me for
the bad influences on myself and others. Give me Your life so I only do good to myself, others, and Your plan.
Jesus, I lived my life and influenced people to
concentrate on the cares of this world. I went beyond that which was necessary to live on this planet. I used time I should have been spending with
You to pursue more and more of the things of this world. Help me see what my priorities need to be so
I can win here on earth and in eternity.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty-Seven
Who Is Setting The Rules?
Week Six Day Four
John 15:2-3 (NIV) He (the Father) cuts off every branch
(person) in Me (Jesus) that bears no fruit (lacks love relationships),
while every branch (person) that does bear fruit (has love
relationships) He prunes (removes bad character traits and attitudes) so
that it will be even more fruitful (has even more love
relationships). You are already clean
because of the word I have spoken to you.
Sometimes you don't know what God
wants. This verse tells you what is
important to Him, what He is looking for, and what He isn't. He doesn't want things that only
benefit you; that is like you only producing leaves and no grapes. He checks your behavior with people;
that is where you produce fruit. He
checks for the good things you do to yourself, other people, and His plan; that
is righteousness. That is you producing
the "grapes" God is looking for.
Father, You
know what makes me happy, victorious, fulfilled,
and satisfied with who I am and what I have done. Teach me what will meet the needs of my
life. Help me find peace, satisfaction,
happiness, love, respect, appreciation, and fulfillment Your way. Help me understand that I must care about
others, as look for what is good for me.
Those who try out Christianity but
fail to produce fruit (good behavior in relationships) through the power of
Jesus are cut off. Why? These are people who try to use Jesus and
Christianity to get money, possessions, positions, power, prestige, popularity,
pleasure, and accomplishments for themselves only. They are like a cancer that absorbs all of a
person's resources on its advancement and growth but not contributing to the
benefit of the body.
Father, examine my motives; even though I came to
Jesus with wrong motives at first, even though I became a Christian with my own
agenda, as I learn these important principles, I am allowing You to change my
reasons for being a Christian. Help me
see that, that makes me a true Christian. Show me that those who get cut off are those who won't allow You to
change their motives, attitudes, and character. Help me yield to your pruning process.
Those who do bear fruit
(good behavior in relationships) are pruned (bad attitudes and character
removed). God doesn't expect you to join
Christianity with good motives. He knows
that good motives have to be installed in everyone who comes to Him. The way He solves you having bad, selfish
motives is, He gives you a good desire the moment you are saved; the Holy
Spirit pours His love into your heart. But, you have to learn how to yield to it.
Jesus, teach me that as a true Christian, I yield to
the Holy Spirit's desire for good and allow it to become my desire. Then You honor my new desire by giving me
Your power. That produces the good
behavior I now want. Show me that this
keeps me from being cut off. You make me
into a true Christian that only needs to be pruned.
The answer to your problems,
struggles, sins, habits, and addictions is through bearing fruit (having good
relational behavior). Bearing fruit is
to learn how and be empowered to treat yourself and others with good thoughts,
feelings, words, and deeds. This produces the "fruit" of good relationships that bring
happiness, satisfaction, love, respect, and appreciation.
Jesus, help me bear this fruit of good behavior to
myself and other people. Let it
transform my life and heal, bless, and empower me in every other way. Teach me that the solution to ALL my problems
is coming to me through this set of instructions and prayers on why and how to remain
in contact with You. Help
me see that the solution to all my problems is coming through me learning how
and then being empowered to live a good, victorious
life.
John 15:3 (NIV) You are already clean because
of the word I have spoken to you.
1.
Salvation Is Helping By Connecting You
To Your Source
Jesus' cleansing words gave
salvation to your life. Salvation was
like a grafting; originally, you were connected to your body, the world, and
even the devil. Jesus grafted you to
Himself; now your assignment is to remain connected to Him. It is your choice; so, He spends this time telling you how important it
is and what to do to remain or stay connected.
Jesus, help me stay connected so I can get Your
flow, words, and love into my life. Let
these benefits give me the preparations for me bearing fruit that produces
freedom from and victory over my problems, struggles, sins, habits, and
addictions. Let them greatly
enhance my relationships with people. Instruct me in how to get the victory and how to be successful in life. Give me God's four power-attitudes so I will
be ready to learn and grow in bearing fruit.
2.
Justification Is Helping By Keeping
You
Connected To Your Source
You are already clean: What about
all the errors, mistakes, failures, misdeeds, and sins you commit against
yourself, other people, and God? When
you get salvation, you also get justification. No one becomes a Christian and then lives a perfect life; but all
want to.
You
are already clean because of the Word I have spoken to you: Jesus, Your
death forgave all the sins of every person. Every human that takes advantage of Your
salvation is forgiven of all their past, present, and future sins. So, help me understand that God is simply
looking for a special want or desire that He gave me at salvation. Show me that it is a deep desire to do
good to myself, other people, and Your plan.
Rom
7:15 (NIV) I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not
do, but what I hate I do. Jesus,
make it clear to me that God is looking
for this "want" and hatred. Show me that
as long as this is in my heart, He credits it to me as being perfect; that is
the provision of justification. Teach me
that this clean record gives me the time I need to learn how to get the
actual behavior or fruit into my life. Teach me that remaining in You is where I am empowered to get that way
of life; and that is being call "fruit."
3.
You
Are Being Helped By Choosing Justification Rather Than Sin
He
(the Father) cuts off every branch (person) in Me (Jesus) that bears
no fruit: As with new grapevine branches, none of us start off with
fruit on us. Being cut off doesn't apply
to people who want to produce good behavior but don't know how yet;
this doesn't apply to the "fruitless" people in Romans 7:15-25. It isn't talking about new and untrained
Christians who haven't learned the principles of Romans chapter eight. It's about those who want to live a
life of sin and don't want to be set free from it by remaining in
Jesus.
Rom
6:15 (NIV) What then? Shall we sin
because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Jesus, help me not want to use God's grace and mercy
so I can go on sinning. Help me not try
to excuse myself, justify myself, forgive myself, explain away my sinful life,
and still claim to be a Christian. Help
me not accept the shortcomings and failures in Romans 7:15-25 while ignoring
the want, desire, hatred, and frustration found in it.
4.
You Are Being Helped By Understanding
Why Some Get Cut Off
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful
nature. For I have the desire
to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out (Rom 7:18). Those who
want to sin but want to get the benefits of eternity will point out the parts
of this Scripture: I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my
sinful nature. And they will point
out: I cannot carry it out. But,
they will ignore: For I have the desire to do what is good.
Rom
6:16 (NIV) Don't you know that when you offer
yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you
obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience,
which leads to righteousness? Jesus, make
it clear to me that the desire to do good things to myself, others, and
God's plan is the one which leads to righteousness. Help me understand that the desire to do
good is the first fruit God is looking for in every new and untrained
Christian.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty-Eight
Did You Know You Can Live A
Righteous Life?
Week Six Day Five
How To Live A Righteous Life
John 15:2-3 (NIV) He
(the Father) cuts off every branch (person) in Me (Jesus) that bears
no fruit (lacks love relationships), while every branch (person) that
does bear fruit (has love relationships) He prunes (removes bad
character traits and attitudes) so that it will be even more fruitful
(has even more love relationships). You
are already clean because of the Word I have spoken to you.
The only people who get concerned about losing their salvation are those
who don't want to lose it. Those
who are just using it for selfish motives don't care if they lose it. Those who read John 15:2 and worry about
being cut off, that attitude is their proof that they are just being
pruned. The fact that you don't want
to be cut off from Jesus, the Vine, and the fact that you want to learn
how to bear fruit means you are a true Christian.
1.
Ask Jesus To Use Justification To Keep You Connected To Him Your Source
You are already clean: What about all the errors, mistakes, failures,
misdeeds, and sins you commit against yourself, other people, and God? When you get salvation, you also get
justification. No one becomes a Christian and then lives a perfect life; but all want to.
You
are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you: Jesus, help
me not abuse justification and my clean record that credits me as one who is
bearing fruit. Help me realize that justification
only helps my relationship with You. Show me how much I need sanctification so I will have a behavior that is
good for me, those around me, and Your plan.
2. Ask
Jesus To Help You Go From Justification To Sanctification
Rom 7:15 (NIV) I do
not understand what I do. For
what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I
do. God is looking for this
"want" and hatred; as long as this is in your heart, He credits it as you being
perfect; that is the provision of justification. This perfect record, through justification,
gives the new and untrained Christians the time they need to learn how to get the actual behavior or fruit into their
lives. So, remaining in Jesus is where
you are empowered to get that way of life; and this is being call "fruit" in
this illustration.
Jesus,
help me cooperate with the purpose for my perfect record through
justification. Help me take advantage of
the time I need so I can learn how to start living a successful life in
my relationships. Help me realize I have
a clean record with You; but, I am still doing things that hurt me,
those around me, and Your plan.
Only God accepts you as perfect; you and those around you still see the
imperfections and damage you do because you lack righteous deeds. It isn't until you take advantage of your
clean record and "do what it takes" to get God's provision of sanctification,
that you and others start enjoying the new you. Your behavior, in justification, is pretty much the same as before you
were saved. The only real change
is your want, desires, hatred, and confusion with getting and keeping good
behavior with yourself and others (Rom 7:15-25).
3. Ask
Jesus To Help You Succeed With Him and With Humans
Salvation and justification successfully established a close, open,
easily accessed relationship with your heavenly Father. You are no longer being invited to come
to Jesus, you are being asked to remain
in Him. This invitation is your way
to successful human relationships. It solves your business, dating, marriage, family, friendship, and enemy
relationships. But when you do have a
relational failure, it doesn't damage your relationship with God. This is because you want to not have a
relational failure; this desire is what God is always looking for.
Jesus,
help me believe in my God-given desire to not have relational failures. Keep speaking faith into me so I will never
doubt that my wants and desires are always to do what is right with You,
myself, and other people. Help me not
confuse my desires with those desires of my body. Its desires are not my desires; I have Your
desires in my spirit.
Taking
Advantage Of Justification
Here's what new and untrained Christians' lives look like in business,
dating, marriage, family, friendship, and enemy relationships. But, you can take advantage of your
justification-relationship with God and move into your
sanctification-relationships with yourself and others.
1. Pray
For Help With The Fact That It's A "Little Bit" Confusing
Rom 7:15 (NIV) I do not understand what i do. For what I want to do I do not do,
but what I hate I do. Jesus, there are areas where I am
still mistreating myself and others in various ways. Teach me how to start doing those wonderful
things I could be doing together with people. Heal me of this confusion caused by ignorance of Your Word.
2.
Pray For Help With The Fact That You Are Agreeing But Failing
Rom
7:16 (NIV) And if I do what I
do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. Jesus, You have empowered me to agree with all the
information, laws, rules, guidelines, commandments, and truths I read in the
Bible. You are showing me that they
would drastically help my human relationships. Help me learn how to work with You to incorporate them into my
behavior. I agree with them; teach me
how to live them.
3.
Pray To
Understand Justification's Perfect Record
Rom
7:17 (NIV) As it is, it is no longer
I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. Jesus, help me not use this as an excuse for my
failures and mistakes. Help me see it as
a grace period for taking advantage of my relationship with You. Empower me to appreciate this time so I can
join You in Your life and succeed in all my relationships.
Salvation and justification make
this statement possible: "it is no longer I myself who do it."
Your God-given, sincere want and hate keep you in
your power-relationship with God. You
are learning how to use The Three Keys; and, you are practicing living a better
way of life. You are keeping your faith
and trust in God rather than in yourself.
4. Pray
To Understand
That Sanctification Requires A Faith Transfer
Rom
7:18 (NIV) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful
nature. For I have the desire
to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Jesus it is hard for me to agree with this: "I
know that nothing good lives in me." Heal me from only feeling good about
myself through my performance. Help me
learn how to live in grace, mercy, and gifts.
5. Pray
To Understand That Sanctification
Requires The Power Of God
Rom
7:19 (NIV) For what I do is not the good I want to do; no,
the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Jesus, justification feels good in that I know my
failures aren't hurting my relationship with You. But, my relationship with myself and others
is hurting me. Let me establish a
power-relationship with You that solves this problem.
6. Pray
To Understand That Sanctification
Requires Believing in Justification
Rom
7:20 (NIV) Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no
longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Jesus, desire is vital to my
justification. If my "want" fails or
doesn't stay headed in the right direction, I get disqualified for
justification. My relationship with You
is based on "If I do what I do not want to do." Help me believe You have given me a
desire that will not fail me or You.
7. Pray
To Understand That Sanctification
Requires Facing Your Problem
Rom
7:21 (NIV) So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right
there with me. Jesus, this
sounds like I will live in this condition for the rest of my Christian life;
and, I see many Christians that do. Help
me go beyond only knowing about salvation and justification; let me know about
salvation, justification, and sanctification. Take me from living far below the victorious, successful life, to the
life my heavenly Father wants to help me live. Help me face my problems and take advantage of my power-relationship
with You.
8. Pray
For Help Understanding That Sanctification
Requires "Divorcing" Your Body
Rom
7:22 (NIV) For in my inner being I delight in God's law. Jesus, help me realize I am a spirit being living in
a body. Teach me that I am not a
physical being that is made up of a body, soul, and spirit. Teach me that the real me is my inner
being, a spirit. Teach me that salvation and justification came into my spirit and
awakened a real and sincere desire. This desire came from You so I can take advantage of the law of
God. Teach me that the spirit me can see
the logic, benefits, potential, and blessings that come my way, as I live
according to the law of God. Convince me
that my body doesn't see things that way. Show me that it is much more animalistic in its approach to life.
This concludes your reading and prayers for this
week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Twenty-Nine
Are You Ready To Be Pruned?
Week Seven Day One
How To Bear Fruit
John 15:2-3 (NIV) He cuts off every branch in Me
that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes
so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the Word I have spoken to
you.
Reminder: The only people who get concerned about losing their salvation are
those who don't want to lose it. Those
who are just using it for selfish motives don't care all that much about
whether or not they lose it.
When a person reads John 15:2 and gets concerned about being one of those
who might get cut off, that attitude is their proof that they are just
being pruned. The fact that you don't want
to be cut off from Jesus, the Vine, and the fact that you want to learn
how to bear fruit means you are a true Christian. Let's look at and pray about the wonderful
provision of justification through salvation.
1.
Ask Jesus To Help You Be Clear
On
This Point
He (the Father) cuts off every branch in Me (Jesus)
that bears no fruit: Typically,
most Christians get concerned about who this is that is being cut off. Obviously, the only ones who get concerned
are those who don't want to be cut off! "want" and "hate" are what your heavenly Father is looking for in His
children (Romans 7:15); and, you have that!
Jesus, thank You for making me a concerned Christian
who is cares about being cut off. Thank
You for making that concern the evidence I need so as to prove I won't get cut
off. Help me keep understanding this
principle so I will always know I am okay. But, help me be a Christian who has a justified relationship with You
and doesn't want to stay there; I want more in my relationship
with You; I don't want to just know it; I want to live it.
2. Ask
Jesus To Help You Get A Power-Relationship With Him
Sanctification has been discussed before; it is a process of spiritual
growth. It is more thoroughly described
through the study and prayer book, Committing
To The Christian Life. It goes
through the Scriptures in Romans chapter eight. They move you from only basing your life on justification. Sanctification empowers you to start living
out the words of Jesus. In it you look
at some very important Scriptures; they explain how the Holy Spirit helps
you. You then move into the actual life-behavior
that Jesus provides through sanctification.
Jesus,
help me know, understand, and have the wisdom to live the Scriptures in these
studies and prayers. Then empower me to
join You in applying them to my life so I will be ready for the next Scriptures
in the next studies and prayers. I want
You and Your life to flow in and through me so You and I can live Your life
together.
John 15:2 (NIV) He (the Father) cuts off every
branch in Me (Jesus) that bears no fruit, while every branch that
does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
3.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand The
Condition Of No Fruit
He (the Father) cuts off every branch in Me (Jesus)
that bears no fruit: This is the way
the family and Kingdom of God work. If
God can get you to allow Him to separate you from sin, then He will allow
you to be a member of His family and a citizen of His Kingdom. But, if you won't allow Him to
separate you from sin, then you and your sins are quarantined from His family
and Kingdom; sin keeps you from bearing fruit.
Jesus, I am thankful that my record credits me with
bearing fruit. But, You want me to go
beyond justification and bear fruit in my relationships with myself and other
people. I am thankful that justification
keeps me from being cut off; but, I now ask for the process of being
pruned. Cut off all those things that
are keeping me from bearing fruit in all my relationships.
4. Ask Jesus To Help You Understand More
About The Principle Of Being Pruned
While
every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be
even more fruitful: Jesus, You have taught me that sin is the process whereby
I mistreat, abuse, and damage myself and other people. You have evaluated every behavior we
humans can produce and have identified those things that are harmful to me and
my relationships. You have labeled them
as sins; I ask You to speak to me through the Bible and the Holy Spirit. Draw out and make every one of them clear to
me so I can allow them to be cut off of me.
Salvation and justification
change the power of sin. They keep your
thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds that used to be sins from being
sins; God sees them as mistakes. They
are still just as damaging, hurtful, and abusive to you and your
friends. But, since God is giving you
the clean record of justification, He stays in a close and intimate
relationship with you anyway. But,
what is your reaction going to be about the fact that you have a clean record
with God? Will you react with the
attitudes of Romans 7:15-25; or, will you want to go on sinning but
justified?
5. Ask
Jesus To Help You Understand That Pruning Is The Process Of Sanctification
Sanctification is you growing spiritually; you learn how life works; you
give up certain world training and philosophies. You yield to the truth about life; you
reevaluate human effort. You become more
involved in working with Jesus and Him with you. As this process increases, you start
including Jesus in all your plans, strategies, decisions, and actions of the
day.
Jesus,
give me a different purpose for doing everything I do in all my
relationships. Give me a life that is
based on everything being win/win situations. Help me care about everyone I am involved with. Set me free from things like, beating out the
competition, climbing to the top, only networking with those who can advance my
career, and using people to get money, possessions, positions, popularity,
prestige, power, pleasure, and accomplishments.
6.
Ask Jesus To Help You Get Pruned Rather
Than Cut Off
John 15:2 (NIV) He (the Father) cuts off every
branch in Me (Jesus) that bears no fruit, while every branch that
does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
Again, Romans 7:15-25 makes it clear that your want or desire is
what God is looking for in your Christian life. However, pruning and sanctification deal with taking that desire and
fulfilling it by using The Three Keys To All Of Christianity. You ask for a desire to follow God's
truths about your life. Then God helps
you seek Biblical truths that help you live them. If you understand that God is looking for
behavior He produces, and if you understand His isn't looking for
behavior you produce on your own, it will clear things up.
If you try to live the Christian life while looking to your abilities,
skills, talents, training, and experience, all you will produce is a long
branch and a lot of leaves. If you apply
The Three Keys To All Of Christianity to the truths of the Bible and the
Christian life, you will produce the fruit of godly attitudes and
character. You will have businesses,
dates, marriages, families, friends, and associates that are based on the
philosophies, love, and power of God.
7. Ask
Jesus To Help You Apply
The Three Keys To Being Pruned
1.
Jesus, I ask You to give me the desire
to be regularly pruned.
2.
Help
me seek the truths of the Bible and study how to go about getting
all my relationships pruned so they will be based on win/win decisions, plans,
and goals.
3.
I
pray and ask You to keep trimming off all principles in my daily
life that are wrong.
4.
I
ask You to keep pruning off all my doubts, fears, unbelief, and
rebellion, so my heart can be filled with Your Faith, that empowers me to believe
I am constantly getting all the wrong teachings removed from my heart, mind,
and life; and that You are protecting me from new ones.
5.
I
ask You to keep pruning off all my human love efforts; help me yield to
God's love. Let it empower me to
care about every person I have a relationship with.
6.
I
ask You to keep pruning off all my human efforts to live the righteous,
Christian life. Empower me to keep
taking faith-action by joining You in practicing living on the basis
of the fact that I have been and am being pruned.
7.
I
ask You to keep pruning off all lack of appreciation and lack of
thankfulness that keeps me from thanking You and praising You for doing
all this for me.
From now on, God will be constantly cutting off principles that are
causing you to feel competitive, selfish, money oriented, and willing to lie,
cheat, steal, gossip, mislead, commit adultery or fornication.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty
What Is Your Responsibility?
Week Seven Day Two
How To Accept Your
Responsibility
John 15:4 (NIV) Remain
in Me, and I will remain in you. No
branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain
in Me.
1.
Your Responsibility Is To "Do What It
Takes."
You are now being given Jesus' instructions
on "what it is going to take" for you to be healed, helped, delivered, and
blessed in your relationships and in your life. If you remain connected to Jesus, then He says He will remain
connected to you. If He remains
connected to you, all His supernatural training and power will flow from Him
into you; that will produce "fruit."
Jesus, make it clear to me that my assignment in all
of this is to find out how to remain in or stay connected
to You. Show me that the answer to this
assignment is for me to love others. However, help me see that the dilemma is, how am I going to get Your
help to love others?
In other words:
1.
You aren't
staying connected to Jesus if you don't love those around you.
2.
You can't
love those around you, if you aren't connected to Jesus.
3.
You need a
way to be connected to Jesus before you qualify to be connected to
Jesus.
Jesus, this is one of those "don't go near the water
until I learn how to swim" issues. I
can't get it because I don't have it; and, I don't have it because I can't get
it. But, help me see that You solved
this dilemma through salvation and justification. They credited me with loving one another; and
they keep me connected to You before I am actually loving others.
2.
Your Responsibility Is To Believe You
Are Remaining In Jesus
Here is the solution to this
dilemma; salvation starts off with giving you a clean record through
justification. This clean record,
through the grace of God, credits you with remaining in Jesus and credits you
with loving one another. This clean
record lasts long enough for you to start bearing fruit (actually doing
those righteous things you have been graciously credited for).
Jesus, help me understand that I start out only
qualifying as loving one another, during my Romans 7:15-25 life, by it being
credited to my record. And, I remain in
You because loving one another is credited to my record. My attitudes and relational behavior need a
lot of work all during this time. But,
show me that because it is being credited to my record, You are remaining in me
and empowering me to remain in You so You can help me love others.
Your Romans 7:15-25 life isn't
you loving yourself, others, and God like you should. It is you wanting to love yourself, others, and God like you
should. And, God gave you this "want" through salvation and justification. He honors this attitude so as to give you
time to learn the appropriate lessons and make the appropriate changes. He honors it so you can be connected
to Jesus and Jesus be connected to you. Once salvation and justification connected you to Jesus, His power to
love one another starts to cause you to "bear fruit" in your
relationships.
3. Your Responsibility Is To Learn How
To Love
As you are being trained by
studying the Bible and praying, you are empowered by your connection
with Jesus. You start actually
loving yourself and other people as yourself (Mark 12:31). You bear fruit instead of it just
being credited to your record. Once this
happens, your heavenly Father starts pruning you by cutting off wrong, bad, and
evil attitudes and character traits. This enables you to start bearing much more fruit of loving yourself,
others, and God.
Jesus, help me actually start thinking things,
feeling things, saying things, and doing things that bless and heal me and
those around me. Let it help me with my
relationships in things like dating, marriage, doing business with people,
advancing in my career, developing friendships, and dealing with people I don't
like.
How Does This Connection Help You?
John 15:5 (NIV) I am
the vine; you are the branches. If a man
remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me
you can do nothing.
1.
Staying Connected Helps You Love One
Another
Christianity consists of you
loving one another so you can remain in Jesus and Him remain in you. Christianity consists of you remaining in
Jesus and Him remaining in you so you can love one another. It is a circular, intertwined
relationship. The more you remain in
Jesus the better your relationships are with relatives, family, a
spouse, friendships, business associates, customers, employees, employers,
children, strangers, clients, and yourself.
Jesus, help me learn how and be empowered to love
myself and live this way with others. Let it change everything about me and my life. Let my pursuit of happiness be redirected
into those things that work. Rather than
trying a whole bunch of things that don't work, get me started off on the right
foot. Help me enjoy my life because I am
"doing what it takes" to build relationships that are meaningful, beneficial,
and successful.
2.
Staying Connected Helps You Know How
To Start This Way Of Life
God's law of love starts you out
with the commandment for you to love Him. Mark 12:30 (NIV) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. However, God immediately points you back
to people just as soon as you start trying to do this. Mark 12:31 (NIV) The second is this: 'Love
your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
God's law ties you and your love
for Him to the way you love one another. 1 John 4:20-21 (NIV) If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his
brother, he is a liar. For anyone who
does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he
has not seen. And He has given us
this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Jesus, teach me that Christianity is a love
relationship with God. He empowers me to
love those around me by loving them with His love I use on myself. Let it produce a circle of relationships
where I, other people, and God are all included in good behavior. Let it connect me to others with a bond of
love that empowers me to do those things that help everyone win.
3.
Staying Connected Helps You See That
Jesus Takes Your Behavior Personal
Mat 25:40 (NIV) The King (Jesus) will reply, "I tell you
the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of
Mine, you did for Me."
Mat 25:45 (NIV) He (Jesus) will reply, "I tell you the
truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did
not do for Me."
Jesus, as I go about my normal life doing those
things it takes to survive and get my needs met, help me see that God is
evaluating it. But, help me understand
that He isn't just watching and evaluating me, He is inviting me to connect to
Your power to live this life with results. He is telling me how He wants me treating myself and other people. Help me accept the opportunity to connect and
stay connected to You so I can do it.
4.
Staying Connected Helps You Show Your
Love For God
Mark 12:30 (NIV) Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The more you
stay connected to Jesus the more you love one another; and, the more you love
one another, the more you are able to show God how much you love Him. And, the more you love this new self, God has
given you, the more you can love one another as yourself.
Mark 12:31 (NIV) The second is this: Love your neighbor as
yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these. You have to
learn how God wants you to fulfill this assignment. He requires you to demonstrate your
love for Him by loving others. In other
words, you are going to fulfill Mark 12:30 about loving God by fulfilling Mark
12:31 about loving others like you love yourself.
Jesus, help me not look at the verse in Mark 12:30
and try to love God while neglecting or ignoring the next verse, Mark
12:31. Show me that, that type of love
for God would pull me away from my spouse, family, friends, relatives, business
associates, customers, clients, employees, employers, strangers, and people I
don't like. I would be trying to spend
all my time with God. Teach me that God
doesn't want me trying to show Him I love Him by separating myself from this
life and these people. He wants me to
live life by demonstrating His love to people.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty-One
Did You Know You Are In Jesus?
Week Seven Day
Three
How To Remain In Jesus
1.
Ask Jesus To Help You Have Life Through Being Connected To Him
John 15:4 (NIV) Remain in Me, and I
will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in
the vine. Neither can you bear fruit
unless you remain in Me.
If you cut a branch off of a grapevine, it will soon die. The grapevine has its connection to roots
that gain moisture, nutrients, and minerals out of the ground. It is also providing life to the
branches. Consider the difference
between a dead tree and a living one. In
a tree that has just died, all the parts of the tree are still there. It has everything it had when it was alive;
but, that mysterious element of life is gone.
Jesus,
as long as I am connected to You, I can grow spiritually. If I die spiritually, all I can do is build;
help me see that live things grow; show me that dead things, like dead trees,
can only be used to burn or as building material. Reveal to me that dead things can be nailed,
screwed, glued, or fitted together; but, they will never grow. Teach me that, once something is dead, I
cannot bring it back to life. Only You
can give life to something that is dead.
2.
Ask Jesus To Help You Take The Steps To
Remaining In Him
Remain in
Me, and I will remain in you: In all your relationships with God, you must make
the first move. You first accept
salvation and justification before Jesus does His part.
1.
Jesus, It is my desire to remain in You. Empowering me to take my first step by desiring
to remain connected to You.
2.
Jesus, I am studying the Bible by
passionately looking for those things You want me to learn. Empowering me to take my second step to learn
how to remain in You.
3.
Jesus, I am praying by asking You to
empower me to remain in You. Help me to
take my third step of prayer for remaining in You.
4.
Jesus, I am waiting for You to give me Your faith to
believe I am remaining in You. Helping me take my fourth step into believing I am
remaining in You.
5.
Jesus, help me to yield to God's love in all
the aspects of my life. Empowering me to
take my fifth step of love so I can remain in You.
6.
Jesus, help me practice taking faith-action
by joining You in living these things I have, Help me take my sixth step of faith-action
into remaining in You.
7.
Jesus,
let me always be thankful for You helping me take this seventh step and
all the other steps into remaining in You. Thank You for being so generous and loving to me. Thank You for teaching me these steps
that are empowering me to remain in You for now and into eternity. I thank You for the privilege of
remaining in You with all I am.
3.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand That
He Honors Your Steps
The thing for you to realize is, for every human step you take toward
Jesus, He takes the same step toward you but on a supernatural
level:
1.
Jesus,
all I can do, according to Romans 7:15-24 is to use human desire. It is weak, powerless, and can't produce the
things I desire. I bring my human
desire to You for You to give me Your supernatural desire.
2.
Jesus,
when I study the Bible, I read it like a human book. I only get bits and pieces of human
information. I bring my human study
to You for Your supernatural Bible truths that works miracles, healing,
transformation, and eternal life when I study.
3.
Jesus,
when I pray, my prayers are motivated by misunderstanding,
selfishness, and weakness. I want the
things of God so I can use them for my purposes, plans, goals, and wants.I bring my human prayer to You for
Your supernatural step toward me so I can pray Your power-prayers
that bring the great things of God into me.
4.
Jesus,
when I try to believe, I have faith sometimes and doubt at other
times. I bring my human belief
to You for Your supernatural step toward me giving me Your faith. Empower me to believe that I have
received those things You have helped me desire, study about, and pray
for.
5.
Jesus,
I when I try to love, my heart keeps twisting it into something
selfish. I bring my human love to
You for Your supernatural power to use God's love, by providing people
with win/win solutions and provisions.
6.
Jesus,
when I try to take faith-action, I seem to be living the right way
sometimes and other times I don't. I
bring my human faith-action to You for Your power faith-action so
I can do supernatural things I couldn't do before.
7.
Jesus,
I try to be thankful; but, I struggle with taking God's provisions,
blessings, and miracles for granted. I
forget to go back over all He has done for me and praise Him for them. I bring my human thankfulness to You
for Your supernatural step toward me empowering me with Your power-thankfulness. Help me be constantly aware of all God is
doing in, for, to, with, and through me and thank Him for them all.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You Do This: "Remain In
Me, And I Will remain In You."
As you try to remain in Jesus using your best efforts, and even though
your best efforts aren't good enough for accomplishing the goal, Jesus honors
them because of your desire. Your desire is honored as if
you are remaining in Him. So, He remains
in you by giving you His supernatural counter parts that give you a life
that is filled with the attitudes and character of Him.
Your desires start being fulfilled, your studies bring transformation,
your prayers are answered positively, your faith is a constant and stable belief,
you love through the power of God's love and you live on the basis of
the fact that you now have Jesus' supernatural provisions through Jesus' faith-action. Then Jesus empowers you with a supernatural thankfulness
that builds a close and intimate relationship with your heavenly Father.
5.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand That
You Are Connected For A Purpose
No branch can bear fruit by itself: Just like a branch on a grapevine must stay attached
to the vine, so your life here and in eternity is through an attachment to
Jesus. But, Jesus isn't just talking
about life, He is also talking about fruit. You are alive for a purpose; you exist so you can accomplish something
very important. Being alive, means you
can influence the things around you. If
you were dead, you wouldn't be able to accomplish anything.
Jesus,
I don't know what my purpose is; I am alive but I just grow longer and have a
lot more "leaves" on me. My heavenly
Father is looking for "grapes;" I am only looking for a "long" and "successful"
life; I want lots of "leaves" so I can "soak up" all the blessings and
provisions of God. I mainly only want
things for me and my needs and wants. Help me take these seven steps so You will take Your seven supernatural
steps toward me. Join me so I can take
the faith-action of actually bearing fruit.
6.
Ask Jesus To Help You Bear Fruit
No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in
the vine: What if you spent all your time
seeking money, possessions, positions, power, prestige, popularity, pleasure,
and accomplishments as your priority? Then your "branch" would get long and filled with leaves; but, you wouldn't
have any "grapes" flowing out of your life. All your focus, goals, strategies, efforts,
and accomplishments would only have to do with life here on earth.
Jesus, help me spend all my time seeking money,
possessions, positions, power, prestige, popularity, pleasure, and
accomplishments, for bearing fruit. Help
me use them by helping everyone around me get their needs met in a
win/win fashion. Help me use The Three
Keys to feed the hungry and thirsty, help strangers, clothe the naked, care for
the sick, and visit the prisoners (Matthew 25:31-46). Help my life produce fruit that brings
great blessings to me and others now and give me and others a life that
will last forever.
7.
Ask
Jesus To Help You Live Out His Purpose
Neither
can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me: Once you know what life is all about,
it changes your goals, purpose, plans, strategies, focus, and methods. Jesus wants everyone's needs met; Jesus wants
you to have the same desire. Rom
8:5-6 (NIV) Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds
set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the
Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The
mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and
peace.
Mat
19:29 (NIV) And everyone who has left
houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for
my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit
eternal life. Jesus, You
aren't giving me a life of poverty, lack, and failure. You are giving me "things" so I can use them
for helping people. Rather than "things"
being my goal, make them my tools for helping people get their needs met and
their life changed.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty-Two
Do You Know How To Succeed In Life?
Week Seven Day
Four
How To Use The Vital Ingredient
Mark 12:30-31 (NIV) Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength. The
second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no
commandment greater than these.
Let's say you wanted to be
successful in a business venture. You
would set your goals in that direction. You would lay out your plans so you could see what you would need to do
to reach your goals. You would start
implementing or fulfilling your plan so as to reach your goals. It all starts out with you deciding what your
goal is. If you don't know where you are
heading, you can't know which way to go or what to do to get there.
Jesus, make Mark 12:30-31 to be my goals. Help me see that if I accomplish the three
things of loving God, my neighbors (those around you), and myself, all other
goals will be empowered to be reached. Help me understand that I will be successful at those things I try to
do. People will like me, enjoy my
company, want to do business with me, trust me, respect me, and appreciate who
I am and what I do.
How To Setup For Winning
You do get the most powerful love
in all of existence at salvation. God
gives you His love as a gift to His children. But, you don't start out knowing how to yield
to it or take advantage of it. It is
like having a million dollars in the bank and not knowing how to access
it. Training is vital to learning how to
yield to God's love. The other part is
remaining in Jesus.
Jesus, help me understand that bad motives can
control my behavior. Even if I treat
people really good, if I am doing it out of selfish or bad reasons, the end
result will be bad for the person I am working with. I have been cheated by people who said things
I wanted to hear. People have promised
to do things for me and then failed me. Make it really clear to me that, that is because God's love wasn't
applied to the relationship.
Taking The First Step
Victorious living only comes
through Jesus' salvation because of what salvation does to your motives. Jer 17:9 (NIV) The heart is deceitful
above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Even when you feel you are on your best
behavior, your heart is skewing your attitudes and motives. It is designed to protect your best
interests. Your heart is like a lawyer representing
you; even if you are guilty, the lawyer will use every law, every loophole, and
every technique to get his client off. That is what your heart is willing to do for you. It doesn't care if you are right, good, or
righteous, it wants to make sure you get what you want.
Taking The Second Step
Father, You
said in Jeremiah 17:10 (NIV) I the LORD search the heart and examine the
mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds
deserve. You are the Gardner, my
Father, that decides who gets pruned and who gets cut off. You can see my real motives. You know what I am up to, why I am doing what
I am doing, and what my true goals are. You can't be fooled, even if I am completely fooled by my own heart. You know I want to do the right things even
though my heart may have me fooled into doing the wrong thing. Help me remain in Jesus so I can get my heart
changed.
Remaining Is A Personal Decision
Trying Christianity out was a
personal decision; and, remaining a Christian is a personal decision. There is a way to be eternally secure in your
salvation life. It is for you to move
from just trying Christianity out to deciding to "do what it takes" to remain
in Jesus. Once again, your
relationship with God is permission based. You can't make God do anything He doesn't want to do; and, He won't
make you do anything you don't want to do.
Jesus, You spent a lot of time in John 15:1-17
trying to talk me into being willing to remain in You. You are trying to get me to see the benefits
of remaining in You. Now that You have
helped me see all the advantages, show me what remaining in You looks like.
You Are Back To The Goal
How are you going to stay
connected to Jesus so you can get His training and power? John 15:17 (NIV) This is My command: Love
each other. These are the final
words in this study, with Jesus; they have to do with a love relationship. Are you willing to open your heart and life
to such a relationship? Do you want to
arrive at a successful life by applying love rather than using world systems
for getting what you want?
Jesus, teach me that true Christianity only works by
God giving me His love. I am willing to
yield to God's love as I approach the way I date, marry, do business, play
sports, get entertained, and live life through it. I want to establish a permanent, remaining,
constantly connected relationship with you forever. Empower me "to do what it takes" to fulfill
this.
Why Do Some Get
Rejected?
John 15:6 (NIV) If
anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown
away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
1.
They Are Rejected Because They don't
want To Live A Life Of Love
Those who try out Christianity
and refuse to learn how to love others, are those who do not bear fruit. Since you want to grow in your ability to love other people, you
are secure. However, in Romans
7:15-25, it covers a type of failure that makes a true Christian look like they
should be cut off from Jesus. If you
don't understand this principle, it can cause you a lot of pain and suffering. Just concentrate on your want and not on your
behavior.
Jesus,
help me know I am secure in you because Romans
7:22 (NIV) says: For in my inner being I delight in God's
law. I
believe that is me, a spirit being. I
believe You have given me the right desires and even though I am struggling
like Romans 7:15-25 shows, I believe you
are training and empowering me to learn to live the Romans chapter eight
life.
2.
They Are Rejected Because They See Failure And Give Up
Just because a new or untrained Christian looks like they are
failing and need to be cut off by their Father doesn't mean they are. All new and untrained Christians are
people that just haven't learned how to bear the relational fruit God wants for
them. So, believe that Jesus has given
you a perfect record that stays in place for as long as you desire to live a
sinless life.
Jesus,
show me that I am not a fake Christians who don't want to stop
sinning. Help me see that I just haven't
learned how to use my "want" to get the help I need from You. You will help me start winning over
things I couldn't win over before. You are
rewarding my "want" with the instructions,
procedures, and power to grow in my ability to love other people. Empower me to never give up or
quit. I am using Your Three Keys To All
Of Christianity and believing that Matthew 7:7-8 is telling me the truth.
3.
They Are Rejected Because They Get
Confused And Give Up
You can feel indications in your
heart, when you do things out of selfish motives. You can see people's reactions to you, when
you brag. You have proof of its results
in your life, as you try to succeed through worldly procedures. You know you are falling short in things the
Bible is telling you to do and not do. But, you know you want to live Biblically!
Jesus, even though salvation gave me the "want" I
need by pouring God's love into my heart (Romans 5:5), there are times when I
get discouraged with my life. Since this
"want" is only in my spirit, my body fights me all the time. Sometimes I get confused as to where these
desires are coming from. This causes me
to get frustrated, upset, overwhelmed, or unhappy.Sometimes I feel like I don't have the right
desires. Help me realize that I have two
conflicting desires. Teach me that the
good one is my spirit and the bad one is my body.
4.
They Are Rejected Because They Refuse To
Get Healed From Selfishness
Some Christians quit because of
their lack of performance. Some think
they didn't really get saved and go back to their old way of life. Some think they must not really want to
change. And, some give up because they
feel it is all just too hard. We all
fail a lot before we learn how to use The Three Keys effectively.
Jesus, help me see that failures aren't caused by
selfishness by itself, it can be by lacking all God's truths that heal that
selfishness. But, if I give up before
You are able to bring me to the place of victory in life, You will honor my
God-given free will. Gal 6:9 (NIV) Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Empower
me to never give up no matter what happens.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty-Three
Did You
Know Jesus Offers Victorious Living?
Week Seven Day Five
How To Succeed At
Life
John 15:5-6 (NIV) I am
the vine; you are the branches. If a man
remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me
you can do nothing. If anyone does
not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and
withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
The World Does Not Know How
There are all kinds of books, magazines, seminars, and training classes
on how to succeed in life. If any of
these sources are aiming at getting great at getting money, possessions,
positions, popularity, prestige, power, pleasure, or accomplishments as
evidences of success in life, they are setting you up for failure at life. How do you get success in life?
1.
Ask Jesus To Help You Identify What
Success Is
I
am the vine; you are the branches: Jesus, I had been trying to succeed in life but
didn't know my source of life and victory are in You? I later "heard" these words but didn't know
what they really meant. I was still
running my business, career, marriage, family, dating, friendships,
associations, and other relationships using principles You don't approve
of? So, I ended up growing a long branch
and a lot of leaves but did not produce any fruit. Let Your supernatural power of wisdom and
revelation teach me this truth.
2.
Ask Jesus To Help You Accept Him As
Your Success Authority
If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear
much fruit: Your heavenly Father is looking
for fruit; Jesus defines fruit as: Love each other as I have loved you (John
15:12b). The world's definition of
success is to accumulate lots of things. If you apply Jesus' definition of life success, you will "do what it
takes" to demonstrate a lot of love.
Jesus, teach me that much fruit, is life success. Much fruit comes
when I am living life and accomplishing incredibly wonderful things. Much fruit comes when my attitudes and
character have been transformed by You. Much
fruit comes when I am living such a great and meaningful life that I am not
only winning myself, I am helping a lot of other people win at life too. Let me help all kinds of people find success
and happiness through Your help.
3.
Ask Jesus To Help You Accept His Words
As Truth
Apart from Me you can do nothing: What if you don't accept this statement as being
truth? What if you think you can do a
lot of things without living on the basis of His teachings? That is where you find yourself disconnecting
from Him and trying things on your own. You stay connected by believing every word He says.
If
anyone does not remain in Me: Jesus, help me accept that You know exactly what You
are talking about. Protect me from those
things that would cause me to not remain in You.Protect me from things like social pressure,
me always insisting on making my own decisions, me thinking I know what is best
for me, me believing that human "experts" know what success is, and me wanting
to win by defeating others.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand That
The "Best" Get Tossed
If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a
branch that is thrown away and withers: Companies, "achievers," spouses, bosses,
corporations, family members, and friends all have a tendency to want to be the
"best," reach the top, get ahead, cross the finish line
first, take the lead, be number one, or keep the advantage. Instead, we want everyone to win, succeed,
get their needs met, benefit mutually, and find true happiness through win/win
methods.
Jesus, in this world, bosses won't allow me to
devote myself to always creating win/win situations. Companies won't allow me to help all the
"other" companies succeed. People won't
join me in making sure everyone gets across the finish line before we do.My friends won't give up competition and
join me in promoting compassion, unity, love, friendship, and mutually
beneficial relationships. But, teach and
empower me to do it anyway.
5.
Ask For Help Understanding That The
Jesus-Connection Has Power And Benefits
If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a
branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown
into the fire and burned: If you join
Jesus in only being involved in win/win situations, will you lose your
job? Will you have to give up your
career? Will you become a door mat in
dating, marriage, family, and in friendships? How are you going to go out into a selfish, self-esteem, self-confident,
competitive world and survive?
If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear
much fruit (John 15:5b): You can read this and forget that the answers,
solutions, decisions, and changes aren't accomplished by you. Jesus isn't telling you to produce win/win
solutions, decisions, plans, and accomplishments. He isn't asking you to change jobs, "buck the
system," start living the right life, start treating people better, or any of
the things you may try to improve; it's a connection.
Jesus, I get concerned about how I am going to
always be involved in win/win situation. I forget that I am not the one who produces this life. Keep my eyes fixed on You as the Author and
Perfecter of my faith. Let me yield to
You and Your knowledge, foreknowledge, understanding, wisdom, and power. You will change my life; I don't have to. All I have to do is want it changed
into this kind of life and then "do what it takes" to make it happen.
6.
Ask Jesus To Help You Not Take Matters
Into Your Own Hands
John 15:6 (NIV) If
anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and
withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
"If anyone does not remain in Me" can be a well-meaning Christian who decides to make
some changes in their life. Remaining in
Jesus is to stay right where you are and not change anything. Jesus will use situations, circumstances,
people, ideas, miracles, and all kinds of things to lead you in the
changes He wants. If you are in a
situation where you are involved in theft, prostitution, or adultery, for
example, you would need Jesus to help you make some immediate changes. But, in most cases, you are in situations
where you can wait for Jesus to show you what to do. It isn't what you can do for Jesus; it's what
He can do for you; remain!
Jesus,
help me not doubt, worry, take matters into my own hands, or try to figure this
new way of life out. Help me allow You
to reveal the plan, work the miracles, and lead me into the steps that get me
where I need to go. Give me the power to
just trust You to take care of this and all other Biblical principles. Let me remain in You as we take faith-action
together. But, give me a deep and
powerful desire to start living the win/win life.
7.
Ask Jesus: What Was I Thinking?
Rom 7:24 (NIV) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me
from this body of death? Since we are all trained by the world as to
what life and success are, we all got involved in contracts,
relationships, habits, addictions, behavioral flaws, jobs, careers, debt,
commitments, or partnerships we can't easily get out of. Jesus didn't find any of us sitting around
waiting for salvation to come our way.
Jesus, I'm involved in things that aren't good for
me, others, or Your plan. They cause me
pain, frustration, guilt, depression, anxieties, and confusion. Get them out of my life immediately; please
set me free. I know I can't make myself
do it. And I can't make You take them
from me. I am sorry that I got involved
in them in the first place. I wish I
knew then what I know now. Help me trust
You to do what is best for me and those around me.
8.
Ask Jesus To Help You Not Forget About
Justification
Rom 8:1-2 (NIV) Therefore, there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of
the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death: Remaining in
Jesus is to allow Him to tell you what to do next. He isn't holding any of your past
commitments, habits, addictions, contracts, relationships, lifestyles, or
careers against you. Jesus isn't
condemning you concerning your past decisions.
Jesus, help me trust You whether You deliver me
gradually or immediately. Help me trust
You to make changes that cause love, win/win, and true success be a part of my life. Be the One Who leads, empowers, speaks faith
and wisdom into me, and supernaturally forces my circumstances to work together
for my good. In the meantime, all my
past, present, and future sins, mistakes, weaknesses, failures, and problems
are covered by You.
This concludes your reading and prayers for this
week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty-Four
Do You Pray Prayers That Work?
Week Eight Day One
How To Pray Effective Prayers
John 15:7 (NIV) If
you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
What would happen, if sinners could
ask for anything they wished and get it from God? If they prayed in selfishness or evil, and if
God gave them whatever they wanted, supernatural power would be unleashed on us
all, bringing great pain and defeat. But, we are all protected from the supernatural power of God being used
for selfishness or evil because of the requirement of, "If you remain
in Me and My words remain in you."
Jesus, help me see that it isn't until I remain
in You and Your words remain in me that I can ask whatever I wish, and it will be given me. Help me understand that it is because
remaining in You will bring me into such a power-relationship of love that I
can be trusted with this kind of prayer. I will be willing, trained, and empowered to only pray for good things
for myself, others, and God's plan. Then
I can ask whatever I wish, and it will be given to me.
2.
You Have To Qualify Through Grace And
Mercy
You need some of your prayers
answered; but, it would be disastrous for you to get them all answered. You aren't trained on how to always remain
in Jesus and His words; and, you don't yet know how to get Jesus and His
words to remain in you. So, you
can't just ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to
you. But, because of salvation
and justification, Jesus credits you as one who is remaining in Him;
and, He credits you as having His words remaining in you. This opens the door for some of your
prayers to be answered.
Jesus, teach me the difference between credited and
actual. Show me that "IF you remain
in Me and My words remain in you" isn't something I am doing
constantly. Therefore, ask whatever
you wish, and it will be given you only
applies to me some of the time. Show me that those areas where I am remaining
in You and Your Words, my prayers are effective.
How Does The Perfect Record
From Jesus Work?
Eph 2:8-9 (NIV) For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift
of God--not by works, so that no one can boast: Your total relationship with God is based on
grace, mercy, faith, and gifts. Those
are things you don't see much of in the world system. So, since most of your training has come from
the world, these are areas where your training is very weak.
Jesus, keep me aware that I got salvation,
justification, and am getting sanctification through grace, mercy,
faith, and gifts. Teach me that salvation
and justification deal with crediting; and, sanctification deals with
actual. Help me see that I have been
credited with perfection; and I am being transformed through
sanctification. It is me actually living
righteousness. But, I must learn about
grace, mercy, faith, and gifts for sanctification to keep happening.
As was said, grace is a creation
from God; it is a powerful procedure that allows new and untrained Christians
to get a lot of the benefits of Christianity. Jesus credits good to their record and
removes all evil deeds from it, even though what they do is
not the good they want to do, rather the
evil they do not want to do--this they keep on doing
(Rom 7:19),. This crediting
comes through grace and mercy in salvation and justification.
This grace and mercy
power-procedure is what Jesus uses; He uses it to consider or credit
the new and untrained Christians with them remaining in Him and His words
remaining in them. It is a gift of grace
and mercy; but, it starts opening the doors for the actuality of a lot
of their prayers to be answered. Later
they will start actually remaining in Jesus and His words actually
remaining in them through a grace and mercy system called sanctification.
Jesus, as my prayers start getting answered, that
moves me in the direction where my actual behavior begins to
improve. The answers to these prayers
start creating wonderful changes in my thoughts, feelings, words, and
deeds. And these changes will all
be provided to me through the gifts of grace and mercy. Show me that this gradual prayer and growth
procedure is how I am getting the doors opened to a lot more prayers being
answered.
Many of the new and untrained
Christian's prayers aren't answered because they pray for the wrong things
(Romans 8:26-27) or they pray with wrong motives (James 4:3). But, the Holy Spirit keeps helping them with
subjects to be prayed for as He speaks to their conscience. He also helps them with their prayer subjects
by speaking to their heart (emotions) and to their mind (reasoning) with
Biblical ideas. This moves them into
becoming trained and mature Christians, which causes the credited to become
actual.
Rom 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called
according to His purpose. New and untrained Christians don't like God not
giving them everything they pray for. The world taught them that they are the authority on what is best for
them. They often think God is "messing
up," rejecting them, neglecting them, doesn't love them, is mad at them, or is
too busy for them.
Jesus, help me accept, in faith, God's refusal to
give me some of the things I pray for. Help me believe that the only reason He says "no" is because it
wouldn't be good for me or wouldn't be good for those around me. Let this help me trust Him more and
more. Help me realize that my heavenly
Father has the wisdom and love I need so I can be protected.
New and untrained Christians
typically evaluate God. They think they
qualify to decide what is best for them. Usually, they come to God to see what kind of God He is. If He fails their test, they reject Him based
on their evaluation. However, God can't
be evaluated or tested. It is like
getting on scales to see how wrong the scales are.
Jesus, even though I am not qualified to test
and evaluate God, He has still given me a lot of gifts to prove Who He is. These gifts have help me see His love,
generosity, grace, and mercy. This has
helped me consider that God passed my tests.
Many new and untrained Christians
test and evaluate themselves based on their performance. The world taught them to believe their
accomplishments are what make them qualified for things and valuable to others. A lot of them try to impress God with how
much they deserve to be accepted by Him. However, this isn't what their relationship with God is all about.
Jesus, help me always remember that my relationship
with God is about grace, mercy, faith, and gifts. Let my past, present, and future sins,
mistakes, failures, and shortcomings be my proof that my performance isn't
going to help me. Help me look to God's
performance; He isn't looking for what I can do for Him; He wants me to be
looking for what He can do for me. Help
me see what the Bible says about this issue.
5.
Good Works Produced Through You
Eph 2:10 (NIV) For we are God's workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do. These are good
works that are going to be produced through you rather than by you. This
is going to be a good-works relationship with your heavenly Father. Your connection to Jesus is bring you into a
way of you working together with Him. He is helping you change the way you live and the way you get along with
yourself, other people, and Him. You will
do good works; but, they will come out of a power-relationship with Jesus as
gifts, grace, mercy, and faith.
Jesus, help me understand that I will think the
thoughts, feel the feelings, say the words, and do the deeds; but, You will be
supplying the faith, power, ideas, feelings, and wisdom. I will be connected to Your great
knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and power so I can do wonderful things and
live a wonderful life. Through You, I
will be able to do all those good things I wasn't able to do through my own
works or efforts. But, the only
reason I will be able to do these things will be because You are doing them in
and through me as gifts, grace, mercy, and Your faith.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty-Five
Do You Qualify For Praying
Effective Prayers?
Week Eight Day Two
How To Wish For The Right Thing
1. Ask
Jesus To Help You Arrive At The Goal
John 15:7 (NIV) If you remain in Me
and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and
it will be given you. Things are
starting to work for you in a wonderful way. The results of remaining in Jesus and His words give you great and
unlimited things from God. The reward
is for you to get whatever you wish. To remain
in Jesus and His words is to be in complete harmony with the will of
God. And, Jesus and His words took
you there.
As you learn how to remain in
Jesus and His words, the more the benefits and provisions of God are available
to you. As you set your goal at remaining
in Jesus and His words, you enter the path that takes you into nothing
being impossible for you.
Jesus, help me remain in You. Give me Your attitudes and character so I can
ask whatever I wish, and it will be given me. Set me free from doubts, fears, patterns,
and fictionalizing that came from me praying for a lot of things and not
getting them. Help me realize that all
my past failures in getting results from You came from the fact that I didn't
qualify for getting those things I asked for. I believe Your Word is true and works!
2. Ask
Jesus To Help You Find Out Why You Failed
In Matthew 17:14-19 Jesus'
disciples had just failed at being able to help a person with a very important
need. Then Jesus had to do it for
them. So, they asked Jesus why they had
failed. He (Jesus) replied, "Because
you have so little faith. I tell you the
truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this
mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." This answer applies to us all; if you don't
stay connected to Jesus, many of your efforts will fail. Or, they will produce results that are only a
long branch and a whole bunch of leaves, but no fruit. If you fail, ask Jesus why?
Jesus,
a lot of the time when I fail to get the results I see in the Bible, I either
listen to myself or the devil. Either I
come up with a reason for why I failed at Bible results, or I allow Satan to
tell me what he thinks is the reason for my failure. Help me come and ask You for what the real
reason is for the failure. Then empower
me to get You help with the problem.
3. Ask
Jesus To Help You Pursue The Reward
Phil 3:14 (NIV) I press on toward the goal to win
the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. This is the
right goal, attitude, desire, determination, and commitment. And, pressing
on is how you move into these right
goals, attitudes, desires, determinations, and commitments.
1. Jesus, help me desire all God has to offer me; help me desire to set
my goal to be to remain in You and Your words.
2. Help me study
the Bible so I can learn how to remain in You and Your
words.
3. Help me pray
for the right things that help me remain in You and Your words.
4. Help me fix
my eyes on You and look to You to speak faith in me so I can believe I have
received the knowledge and power to remain in You and Your words.
5. Help me
yield to God's love by remaining in You and Your words for the
right reasons, purpose, and motivations. Help me share these wonderful things with others.
6. Jesus, join
me as I start to take faith-action so I can take advantage of the fact
that I have the knowledge and power to remain in You and Your
words.
7. Jesus, as I remain
in You, help me be thankful. Help me not take it for granted that You were so loving, gracious, and
merciful to give me this wonderful gift.
Use these steps over and over again so you can move into the realm where
you can ask whatever you wish,
and it will be given you, and into the life where nothing
will be impossible for you. It's
like going through an eight-year training program so you can get a degree. All the time, effort, and money spent will be
worth it so you can have a career for the rest of your life based on
that degree. Everything you put into
this training with Jesus is worth getting all the results it brings for the
rest of your life here and in eternity.
4.
Ask Jesus To Empower You To Always "Do
What It Takes"
John 15:7 (NIV) If
you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be given you: You now know "what it takes" to get the things you
need from God. You now know what causes
the promises and provisions in the Bible to be yours. You now know what to use The Three Keys To
All Of Christianity on so you can live a victorious life here and in eternity. You just have to keep "doing what it takes"
to remain in Jesus and His words. This is how to reach your goal.
5.
Ask Jesus To Teach You How To Always
"Do What It Takes"
John 15:7 (NIV) If you remain in Me
and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and
it will be given you: It becomes a
frustrating thing for the Bible to keep telling you what you need to be doing
and not tell you how. If you will just remain
in Jesus and His words remain in you, you
can ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. Without the Three Keys To All Of
Christianity, you will try to do what the Bible says. Trying was how you entered into the
Romans 7:15-25 life and got frustrated, confused, and discouraged. But, "trying" and failing revealed to you
that you needed something else to help you. Rom 7:24 (NIV) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this
body of death?
Jesus, You have made it easy for me to desire
You and the things You have to offer. Help me not lose that desire over time. Help me not get distracted by the
responsibilities of life. Help me want
to remain
in You and Your words for the rest of my life.
Jesus, as I read and study my Bible, it isn't
written like any book I have ever read. Help me allow You to speak transforming power to create change in
me. Help me read the promises and the
commands in the Bible as power that is creating in me the ability to remain
in You.
Jesus, I have always consulted my mind and heart for
those things I wanted. If I couldn't
come up with the answer I was looking for, I would always look to other humans
for additional help. Help me allow You
to help me by me praying and asking for Your input. Let me see that this is a part of me remaining
in You.
Jesus, I have been taught in a lot of ways to believe
in myself, to trust my heart, to have confidence in my own skills, abilities,
talents, and potential. Help me fix my
eyes on You for Your faith to help me believe in You and Your words so I
can always remain in You.
Jesus, I have also been taught in a lot of different
ways that sex is love, that I am motivated by sexual drives, that pleasure is happiness,
and that the love of money, possessions, positions, power, popularity,
prestige, pleasure, and accomplishments are the kind of love to have. Help me yield to Your love so I can remain
in You and Your words.
Jesus, I have always tried to do those things I
wanted to do. I got a lot of cooperation
from my body, when I was living the life of the world. But, just as soon as I tried to live the
Christian life, my body did exactly what Romans 7:15-25 says it does. Help me join and remain in You by
taking faith-action so we can work together to fulfill the goal
of me remaining
in You and Your words.
Jesus, I have always tried to believe in myself,
help myself, give things my best efforts, and then be proud of myself for
achieving such great accomplishments. My
self-esteem and self-confidence needed my and other people's praise for what I
did. Now that I am putting my total
trust in You, help me see that I need to be humble and honest. Help me see that You accomplished these
things in me and that You deserve my thankfulness and praise.
Jesus, help me remain in You by
realizing that I don't need praise. I
need people to see how great You are. I
can't meet their needs; they need me to be transparent and allow them to see
You doing great things in my life. Then
they will see what You want to do in their life. Help me not only be thankful, help me
give you the glory and the praise as I tell others what You did for me. Let them realize that You don't love me any
more than You love them.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty-Six
Do You Believe You Are Being Trained And Empowered?
Week Eight Day
Three
How To Be Trained And Empowered
John 15:8 (NIV) This
is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to
be My disciples.
This is to My Father's glory:
When you remain in Jesus, He helps you live a
life of blessings, victory, and miracles; that shows how great your Father
really is. Your transformed life shows
everyone that He is loving, caring, and compassionate. The more He does in and through you, the more
people are able to see how much He is willing and able to help them.
Jesus, help me realize that as I remain in You,
You help me live a life of blessings, victory, and miracles so that my life
shows how great my Father really is. Let
my transformed life help others see that He is loving, caring, and
compassionate. Teach me that the more He
does in and through me, the more people see how much He is willing to help
them.
This is to My Father's glory, that
you bear much fruit: The fruit you are bearing is to love one another;
this means you are living a life that brings great relationships. Great relationships bring great success in
life; great success in life brings powerful proof that Christianity is the
way to live the life you have always wanted to live. Loving one another is the answer to the
challenges you have in trying to win at life.
This is to My Father's glory, that you
bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples: Jesus,
make me a disciple who is Your
student. As a student, help me use The
Three Keys To All Of Christianity so I can get, have, and live God's power-attitudes in the Beatitudes of Matthew
5:3-12. Then let the power-attitudes
in the Beatitudes lead me into Your character found in the fruit of the
Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Then
let the fruit of the Spirit empower
me to yield to God's love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Let that bring me to the place where I can ask whatever I wish, and it will be given
[to me].
So:
•
Before you go
out to deal with the public,
•
Before you
start business transactions,
•
Before you
try to succeed at a dating, courtship, marriage, or family relationship,
•
Before you
put demands on a friendship,
•
Before you
meet people you haven't met before,
•
Before you
address issues with people you don't like,
Get all your emotional needs met
through your constant connection with Jesus. You are no longer a person who is trying to establish relationships to
get your needs met; Jesus met them.
What Does Accepting Jesus' Love Do For You?
John 15:9 As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved
you. Now remain in My love.
1.
Accepting Jesus' Love Gives You
Relationships From Your Heart
A lot of your struggles in
relationships are caused by you not feeling loved, appreciated, and
respected. As long as you feel like
people don't care much about you, you react to them in suspicious and reserved
ways. If you think people aren't able to
understand and appreciate you, it keeps you from trusting their reasons for
interacting with you.
Jesus, help me realize that people can feel my
attitudes of distrust and reservation; and it keeps them from trusting me. There are little messages I send out in my
tone of voice, my eyes, my facial expressions, and my body movements and
posture. Let me remaining in You, Your
Words, and Your love change this message into a message about my heavenly
Father.
2.
Accepting Jesus' Love Teaches You How
To Be Real
You may try to act like you are
fine; you may try to get training on how to fool people into believing you care
about them; you may even go to great lengths to try to convince yourself and
others that you have their best interests in mind. But, Jesus is the only One Who can provide
your heart with a love that is real and very effective in relationships.
Jesus, help me see that everything I do has to do
with relationships. And, everything I do
in my relationships need to be inspired and motivated by love. Whether it is a relationship with myself, other
people, or with God, let love help me be able to enjoy life. Let me remaining in a connected relationship
with You make me real rather than me acting real.
3.
Accepting Jesus' Love Gives You
Healing For Your Heart
As the Father has loved Me: God loves Jesus with a supernatural love; He loves
Him in a way that is far beyond anything you can comprehend. Even though this love is way above your
abilities, you can at least imagine how wonderful, powerful, and consistent it
must be. You would be the most blessed
person on the planet, if you were loved with this love.
4.
Accepting Jesus' Love Gives You
Relationships From A Healed Heart
As the Father has loved Me, so have I
loved you: You are now finding out that you are
loved with the same love God loves Jesus with. Let this fact penetrate your heart and heal it so you can start
demonstrating real sincerity with your family, relatives, friends, business
associates, clients, strangers, and people you don't like.
Now
remain in My love: Jesus, since all my life is based on relationships,
and since all relationships are enhanced by love, let this raise my life to a
whole new level of purpose, meaning, and fulfillment. Empower me to really care about those
around me, help me have their best interests in mind, let my heart send out a
message of sincerity to everyone so they can truly trust me. Empower me to remain in Your love.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty-Seven
What Kind Of Person Do You Want
To Look Like?
Week Eight Day
Four
How To Look Like Jesus
1. Ask
Jesus To Help You Help Others
John 15:8 (NIV) This is to My Father's glory, that you
bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples. What are you
trying to accomplish in life; what is your main goal; what
would make you happy and give you feelings of great accomplishment? Would it be for you to be loved,
appreciated, respected, admired, envied, praised, and very popular? Or, would it be that you pointed a lot of
people to the true source of all happiness and success?
Jesus, in the world, I have to convince people that I
am someone who can "get the job done," "be the go-to person," "be relied on,"
"do it right," and "always come through." If they don't "believe in me," they won't hire me, do business with me,
marry me, be my friend, work for me, or give me opportunities. If I lack what they want or they think
I lack what they want, they will go somewhere else. Show me how to move from this to the way You
are teaching.
2. Ask
Jesus To Help You Give Him The Glory
This is to My Father's glory: If you know about a good brand of product that has
served you well, you tend to tell others about it. If you know a good professional that has done
a good job for you, you will usually tell others about them. If you buy something that you are really
proud of, you will typically show it to all your friends and maybe to a few
people you don't like. It is in your
nature to spread the "good news" about those things you know about, buy, use,
own, or make. It is fun to share the information
about things you know to be worthwhile and beneficial.
Jesus, You are the greatest being in all existence;
You are the greatest experience and relationship I have ever had. You are more worthy of my admiration,
respect, appreciation, thankfulness, and praise than anything or anyone. You are telling me how to get the word
out about my heavenly Father. You are
explaining how to remain in You and Your words. You are introducing me into a way of life
that points to the greatness of God. Give me all these gifts of success, happiness, and fulfillment in life
and in eternity so I can praise You.
What Do You Look Like When You Are Bearing Much Fruit?
1.
You Look Like A Person Who Remains In
Jesus And His Words
This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit:
In the grapevine illustration; you looked at
branches on a grapevine, and, a gardener. Jesus is the vine you must remain in. God is working with everyone who is attached to Jesus. He has a goal for every branch attached to
Jesus. His objective is for you to not
only bear fruit, He wants you to bear much fruit.
Jesus, the fruit You want from me are wonderful
relationships with myself, other people, and with You. Much fruit means that I and the people
around me are all benefiting from all of those relationships. These are the things I and all honest,
sincere people want. Help me with world
training that has pitted me against those around me. Heal me from selfishness, greed,
covetousness, envy, and cheating people. I want Your kind of fruit growing out of my life; help me want it
just like You do; and help me start bearing much fruit.
2.
You Look Like A Person Who Joined
God's Purpose For You
"This is to My Father's glory" means you are fulfilling God's objectives; you are
living a life that is fulfilling His purpose for giving you a life. Some people think that God just wants praise
and glory for praise and glory's sake. God doesn't need your praise, glory, worship, or thanksgiving; you
need to give them! If you fail to
appreciate, respect, love, give praise and worship, and be thankful, you get
cheated out of realizing how wonderful God really is.
Jesus,
empower me to see, understand, and appreciate all You are trying to get flowing
in and through my life. Help me realize
that what You want is a far better fulfillment than what I would try to produce
in my life. Help me see that this much fruit is a supernatural way to
succeed in life and in eternal life. Fill my heart with praise, thanksgiving, glory, worship, and
appreciation. Help me feel all these
things and express them.
3.
You Look Like A Person Who Shares How
Wonderful God Is
"That you bear much fruit" means you will not only be filled with love,
respect, appreciation, thankfulness, and joy concerning all God has done for
you, you will share all God's greatness with those who need to know about Who
He really is. For you to grow in
appreciation, respect, love, praise, worship, and thankfulness is for you to
become a long, leafy, branch. And, that
is okay, if you grow a whole bunch of "grapes" on the full length of
that branch.
The first step in sharing your
appreciation, respect, love, praise, worship, and thankfulness is to get them
in your heart first; you can't give what you don't have. But, once you have them, you need to share
them with those around you. You need to
allow God to make you so blessed, excited, and thankful, that you want to tell
everyone you know about Him and His provisions.
Jesus,
it seems like no matter how excited I get about You and all You have done for
me, I find it hard to share Your greatness with those who don't know You. Heal me of all fear of social pressure,
people's reactions, and people's opinions. Help me have the freedom and power to share all the wonderful things You
have done for me no matter what the results are.
4.
You Look Like A Person Who Is Jesus'
Disciple
This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be My disciples: Disciples are
trainees; they learn how to remain in Jesus and His words. They listen, believe He speaks truth, and
allow Him to create things in their lives. Plus, they share all they are living with those around them. Jesus' "grapes" have a seed; in other words,
they aren't seedless grapes. Each
Christian has a message that is alive and life-giving like a seed. If you plant a grape seed, it grows
and produces a new plant that is alive and growing. If you share how wonderful God has been to
you, you share the life you have with others. Then that seed grows inside them and gives
them a chance to join and remain in Jesus and His words in them.
Jesus,
help the much fruit I bear to not be
"seedless." Help me bear the kind of
fruit that has the creative power to change people's lives just like You are
changing mine. Let me be open and honest
about how great You are. Empower me to
speak words that contain Your transforming, creative power. Speak through me to those people around
me. Speak faith through the words I
speak so they can believe like You have empowered me to believe.
5. You
Look Like A Person Who Shows Yourself
"Showing yourselves to be My disciples" means you are revealing something to those around
you. This is to My Father's glory,
that you bear much fruit. You don't
get saved, justified, sanctified, blessed, healed, receive miracles, and have
your heavenly Father forcing your experiences and circumstances to work for
the good of those who love Him as a private experience. You show and tell others about Him and
what He has done for you.
Why would God want you to bear
much fruit? That means a whole lot
of people who have no idea how wonderful He is get the wonderful news about
Him. The world lies to them, fights
Jesus in front of them, persecutes them for trying to believe Him, makes fun of
all Christians, and tries to keep them from coming to Him. But, you have the truth and you are sharing
it.
Jesus, show me that the much fruit You want
me to bear isn't just words presenting the good news. Fruit is a life of love that
influences the way I do business, treat employees and employers, treat my
friends, treat my spouse and family, and treat my enemies. Give me life that demonstrates Your love so
that when I do present the good news, people will believe.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty-Eight
Are Your Love, Emotional, And Personal Needs Already Met?
Week Eight Day
Five
John
15:9 As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love.
What Does It Take To Have Healthy Relationships?
Now remain in My love: What if you entered into marriage, family,
business, friendships, new contacts, and enemy relationships with all your
needs met? Most people put
demands on relationships that those people can't meet. Your relationship with Jesus is designed to
meet your needs so that it keeps you from putting these demands on yourself and
other people.
1. Get
Healthy Relationships By Remaining In Jesus And Him Meeting Your Needs
Remaining in Jesus and in His
love and Him and His love remaining in you help you to enter a relationship
with your needs already met. It
is a love issue; Jesus is demonstrating His love for you by giving you all the
tools or principles you need for loving yourself, other people, and Him. He is loving you into being able to
bear fruit, which is Him loving you into being able to love others. This helps you to establish win/win
relationships that offer Jesus' love, power, and healing to other people.
Jesus, help me always keep in mind that branches
connected to a grape vine get their ability to grow and bear grapes from the
vine. Help me always realize that I get my
life's needs met through You, not others. Just like branches produce grapes and those grapes are eaten and meet
people's needs, give me Your knowledge, understanding, wisdom, love, and power. Let them flow into me and through me
to my relationships with others.
2. Get
Healthy Relationships By Remaining In Jesus' Love And Get Jesus' Life
Gal 2:20 (NIV) I
have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by
faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Jesus, teach me that the power to live a
victorious life over things hurting me comes from yielding to Your abilities,
wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and skills. Your decisions in my dating, marriage, family, friends, business,
career, and life in general are totally different. Let my influence on others come from
Your life. I am getting Your thoughts
and feelings. As I learn to yield to
them, empower me to treat people in a totally different way.
3. Get
A New Life Of Faith And Confidence, Producing Healthy Relationships
"I live by faith in the Son of God" is you looking to Jesus for all of His resources to
become your resources. When you allow
Jesus to speak faith into you, you know what to do. Your relationships are based on faith and
confidence.
Jesus, help my faith and confidence be controlled by
love. Even when I know what to do, help
me be patient and kind. When my faith
and confidence are struggling, help me not be envious of someone else's faith
and confidence. Keep me from being
boastful or proud of my faith and confidence. Help me not come across as being rude, self-seeking, or easily angered
(1 Cor 13:4-5). Let others experience
God's love through me.
4. By
Remaining In Jesus' Love, Bring Blessing To Those Around You
Who loved me and gave Himself for me: When a needy or selfish person is brought into a
relationship with Jesus, He meets their needs and heals their heart; that makes
it possible for them to be able to love others. All of a sudden, needy and selfish people become healthy people who care
about others. Rather than using people,
they become a blessing to them.
Jesus, as I start a new relationship, help me make
it a three-way relationship. Even if the
other person doesn't have a relationship with You, as they establish a
relationship with me, let them also be establishing a relationship with
You. As You and I build a relationship
with them, let them experience what it is like to have a relationship with You
themselves.
5. By
Remaining In Jesus' Love, Brings Truth To Your Relationships
John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the
truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through Me.
Jesus, You tell me the truth because that is Who You
are. As I yield to You, help me tell
others the truth. If those around me
don't know the truth about life, help me lead them into it. But, as they associate with You and me, help
them experience the truth about life. Let Your words of love flow into me and then out to those around me. Let me show them a way of life that
approaches the issues of life victorious; and that
is a win/win relationship.
6. By
Remaining In Jesus' Love, Brings The Spirit To Your Relationships
John 6:63 (NIV) The Spirit gives life; the flesh (our
body and its motivations) counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life.
Jesus, Your love and words are teaching me how to
live Your life. I am learning how to
live in the spirit realm. You are introducing
me into a way of thinking that is bringing great power. You have elevated my life that is now
operating on a supernatural basis. Miracles, blessing, healing, and transformation has started flowing into
me. Help me be able to share all of
these things with those I establish a relationship with.
7. By
Remaining In Jesus' Love, It Brings Freedom To Your Relationships
John 8:32 (NIV) Then you will know the truth, and the
truth will set you free. Great truth flows into you and your relationships
because you are remaining in Jesus' love. Truth is based on love because it must be presented in love. Eph 4:15 (NIV) Instead, speaking the truth in love,
we will in all things grow up into Him Who is the Head, that is, Christ.
Jesus, each truth I learn from the Bible addresses
an issue in my life that brings freedom. Each truth that sets me free, is a breakthrough that I can share with
others. As I grow in truth and love, the
quality of my relationships grows. Let
Your truth and love bring freedom to my friends. Help me share your freedom with them so they
can experience your love.
8. By
Remaining In Jesus' Love, You End Up Winning At Life And Relationships
John 8:36 (NIV) So if the Son sets you free, you will be
free indeed. The way you remain in Jesus' love is by waiting for
His love to give you the thoughts and feelings He wants you to have. His
love-thoughts and love-feelings will inspire new decisions, new words to say,
and a better way of responding to the people and circumstances you face. Your problems are solved by you yielding and
remaining in Jesus' love as you make each decision in your day. Jesus will help you make decisions that will
show others what He is capable of doing.
Jesus
help me make love-decisions:
1.
Help all my love-decisions unite me with
people.
2.
Help all my love-decisions empower me to handle
difficult relationships.
3.
Help all my love-decisions increase my influence of
good for me, others, and God's plan.
4.
Help all my love-decisions provide me with a kind of
life that succeeds through information, training, and special influences from
You. And, let it be where I can show
others what You, Your words, and Your love can do for them.
The end result of love-decisions
is a life based on decisions that work and bring good results. Waiting on Jesus' love-decisions before you
speak or do something, keeps you from having to go back and try to correct or
solve unnecessary conflicts, problems, and mistakes.
This concludes your reading and prayers for this
week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Thirty-Nine
Do You Know How Much Jesus Loves
You?
Week Nine Day One
How To Feel Jesus' Love
John
15:9 (NIV) As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love.
1.
Ask Jesus For His Flow Of Words And
Love
As the Father has loved Me: Just like water, nutrients, and minerals flow
through the roots of a grapevine into the vine, and then flow from the vine
into the branches, and then flow from the branches into the grapes, so does
God's love flow from the Father into Jesus and from Jesus into you, and from
you into the lives of others. That
empowers your relationships to exist with your needs already met; and,
others get their needs met through Jesus and you.
Jesus, help me not be the blockage as You, Your
words, and Your Love flow from my Father, to You, and into me. Let them flow through me to many people
around me. Teach me how to be open,
receptive, yielding, and cooperative. Let me be readily available where ever Your love and words need to be
shared. Help me stay available to You
for every situation where You need me to be there for someone.
2. Ask Jesus To Help You Know You Are
Loved And Blessed
Rather than you being a needy
person going around trying to get other people to meet your needs, you are a
healed person ready to help others with their needs. The potential of being that kind of person
gives you a lot to be applying The Three Keys To All Of Christianity. You have read about it, studied it, and seen
what your life can be like. But, you are
now ready to feel it in your heart; and, you are ready for Jesus to make
it real for others through you.
Jesus, help me realize that I am a healed
person. Set me free from trying to get
things I already have. Teach me that
Your faith has to do with what You have already accomplished in me, for me,
with me, and through me. Show me that I
am not involved with You so You can start it or bring it into existence; You
have already produced a finished work. Now, all I have to do is learn how to accept it and believe I have
it. Help me do this for all my
needs.
3.
Ask Jesus To
Help You Feel His Love And Blessings
As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you: You are loved by Jesus; Jesus proved you are loved
through His demonstrations of love. John
15:13 (NIV) Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for
his friends. You are Jesus' friend
that He laid down His life for. He died on the cross so you could have all your needs already
met. Now He is asking you to lay down
your life but not on a literal, physical cross. He is asking you to lay it down by devoting it to the needs of others. This is so they can find out that they are
loved.
Jesus, help me get those things I know in my mind to
be transferred to my heart. I know I
should feel Your love because I can see how wonderful You have been to me. But, my heart doesn't seem to respond to the
facts and the truths like my mind does. But, I know You have access to my heart and can bring it into such an
experience that it will be ready to let Your love and your words flow through
me into others. Give me empowered
emotions to share.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You Use What You Have
When you think about laying down
your life by devoting it to the needs of others, you may think about someone,
somewhere other than where you live, where you work, or where you have your
current influence. You may think you
will have to change jobs, careers, locations, or your
lifestyle. But, what if you simply
change your purpose for why you do what you do? What if Jesus uses you where you are and what you are doing to help the
people around you?
Jesus, I am going through life-classes so I will
know how to help people by using those things You put in my job, my career, and
my training. Help me see that I don't
have to make major changes in what I am already doing. You put me where I am, doing what I am doing,
so I can use those things. You put me in
life-classes to train and create them in me. Show me how to help people through who I am, what I am doing, and where
I am.
5.
Ask For Jesus' Words And Love To Flow
Through Your Career
What if you got up in the morning to do everything you have always been
doing? But, what if you did all of it
for a different purpose? What if it was
a purpose of making sure all those people around you got their needs met? What if you started applying The Three Keys
To All Of Christianity by knocking on the door of opportunity to share
Jesus and all He has to offer to those people around you? The knock key is motivated by your
love.
Jesus,
teach me how to use the knock key to pray
for opportunities each day to share You and Your provisions to those around
me. Help me understand that it is a key
that brings people into my life who realize they need Your help. Show me that it keeps me from spending all my
time with someone who isn't ready to benefit from you. Help me use it by asking You before I start
my day to lead me to those You want me sharing with.
6.
Ask Jesus To Help You Know How To
Follow His Instructions
As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love: Without you allowing The Three Keys to guide you
into remaining in Jesus' love, you are left with
a command from Jesus that you don't know how to respond to or obey. But, the Bible provides you with these keys
to guide you in what to do. The seek
key gives you a passion to search the Bible for how to remain in Jesus' love. The knock
key guides you into asking Jesus to provide you will opportunities to
demonstrate His love through you. The ask
key is used by itself and with the other two keys. It is always there keeping your eyes on Jesus
for help.
These three keys keep you from imagining some big, scary change taking
place in your way of life. They keep you
from trying to decide what it is Jesus is wanting you to do. They give you some small, simple steps that
lead you into a gradual change of approach to life. You don't have to guess what to do, you don't
have to "take a leap of faith," you don't have to prepare yourself for some
"unknown" sacrifice, or imagine some major change of life.
Just ask Jesus what He wants you to do. Just seek the truths in the Bible for
indications of things He is speaking into your heart. Just knock on the doors of opportunity
to open so you can walk into the place where Jesus wants you to go. For as long as He doesn't make it clear, all
you have to do is keep asking, seeking, and knocking. In the meantime, let Jesus keep working on
your attitudes and character through these devotions.
Rather than a day filled with trying
to get your needs met, ask Jesus to change your purpose:
1.
Jesus,
help me desire to be able to go through my typical day caring about the
people around me. Help me not change
anything in my life; help me to allow You to change my purpose and goals for
the day.
2.
Help
me study the Bible, with You pointing out verses that guide me into
better love and care for people, especially those I am around during my
day. Help me just look for Scriptures so
You can speak to me about the way I could live out my day.
3.
Help
me always pray and ask You to guide me through my day. Help me pray so that I will able to
show Your concern, love, care, help, and friendship to those around me. Help me not try to talk or act
different. Help me just pray for
win/win situations for everyone involved. Help me wait on You to show me what to be praying for.
4.
Help
me have the faith I need, so I will be able to believe You have, are,
and will continue to show me how to be healed, blessed, and loved. Help me share Your love for me with
others. Help me believe You are
giving me what to say and do. You may
just be having me do good things, caring things, helpful things, and loving
things that produce win/win situations for those around me; but, help me just
follow Your lead.
5.
Empower
me live a life of love. Flow
though me with Your love during my day. Let me be open to Your love all day long as I live like I have
always lived. Let Your love guide
me all day long.
6.
Empower
me to start looking to You to help me know what, when, where, to whom, and how
to take faith-action. Help me live
on the basis of the fact that You will be guiding me, empowering me, and
helping me be a benefit to those around me. Let this be a new way of approaching life; guide me moment-by-moment and
issue-by-issue. Let my eyes stay fixed
on You, so I won't try to change things myself.
7.
As
You start using me to be a blessing and a help to others, help me remember to
be thankful. Help me see what You
are doing through me into the lives of other people and appreciate
it. Fill me with the excitement
for being used by You to bring You into other people's lives. Help me spend time praising and thanking
You for allowing me to be involved in Your work of love.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty
Did You Know Freedom Comes Through Obedience?
Week Nine Day Two
How To Obey Commands
John
15:10 (NIV) If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love,
just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His
love.
Most of us struggle with demands or
someone trying to command us to do something. A command from Jesus doesn't force you to do what He says, because He
said: "If you obey My commands...." However, Jesus doesn't make suggestions; what He says is vital to
you. If He said, I think this way would
be best for you, then you would get the impression that it was good but not
vital. What Jesus says is a matter of
life and death--eternal life and eternal death.
Jesus, if a car was about to hit me and someone
commanded me to get out of the road, I could get offended and get hit. I could argue with them and get hit. I could disagree with them and get hit. Or, I could obey their command and get saved
from being hit. Make it clear to me that
if You say something, it is an eternal issue; it comes as a command because it
is vital to my life and survival. But,
show me that I can decide whether or not I will obey.
If you obey My commands, you will remain
in My love: This is Jesus telling you how
to remain in His love. The thing new and
untrained Christians don't understand is: "apart from Me (Jesus) you can do
nothing." That is something they
find hard to believe. Jesus is the
Creator of the universe and the Creator of humans; He knows what He is talking
about.
John
1:1-3 (NIV) In the beginning was the
Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was with God in the
beginning. Through Him all things
were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. Jesus, I don't even exist without You. Help me not see myself as being independently
capable without You. Me having a
God-given free will can cause me to think I am able to achieve success in life
and relationships without You; but, set me free from that concept.
3.
Understand The Instructions
If you bought an electronic
device and the manufacture provided all the instructions on how to use and
maintain it, you can see the instructions as optional or you can see them as
commands or rules. Those who obey
them will be able to use the device successfully for a long time. Those who ignore those "commands" will fail
to get the true benefits from the device.
Jesus, help always keep in mind that You are the One
Who "invented" life and all the "natural" laws of the universe. You own it and all of us in it; I am Your
creation and I owe all I am and all I will ever be to You. However, You chose to allow me to be my own
person and let me make my own decisions. Help me not take the gift of freedom for granted. Help it not keep me from realizing that apart
from You, Jesus
I can do nothing. Without You I wouldn't even be here; and,
where I live wouldn't be here either.
4.
Understand God-Given Free Will
Jesus could say, "Obey My
commands!" and those words could create a force inside you that made you
obey His commands. Instead, He said: "If
you obey My commands, you will remain in My love." As Jesus deals with your God-given free
will, He spends a lot of time offering help for you making the right
decisions. But, you have to want to do
what He commands. He won't force you to
obey.
Jesus, Your commands are coming from a voice of
love. I tend to go in the wrong
direction; I typically don't see things the way I should. I lack the knowledge, understanding, wisdom,
and foreknowledge of the future that You have. Help me see that your commands are for my benefit, blessings, and
healing. But, even though they are vital
necessities, you have made them were I can resist them by giving me a free
will.
5.
Understand That Free Will Needs
Commands
You can take your God-given free
will for granted. Every one of us used
our free will to go out and do things the wrong way. Everyone has a drive that pushes them; it can
be money, possessions, positions, power, prestige, popularity, pleasure, or
accomplishments. You tried to get
happiness and love through whatever was driving you. If you hadn't had someone who loved you
enough to command you to change, you would have been stuck in that rat race for
the rest of your life.
Jesus, I thank You for commanding me to repent of my
sins. I thank you for commanding me now: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved
you (John 15:12). Help me be willing to be commanded to do things by
You. Set me free from pride and
arrogance. Help me submit to You Who
know exactly what I need. Let me be
empowered to respond immediately when you command me to do something so I won't
get hurt and damaged.
How To Obey Jesus' Commands So You Can Remain In His Love
1.
You Obey Jesus' Commands By Being
Willing To Trade
2 Cor 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come! What if you had a body that was addicted to drugs
and alcohol, had all kinds of diseases, your limbs and organs weren't working
very well, and your life was filled with pain and disappointment? What if there was a way for you to get a new
body and a new life? But, what if you
had to die first before you could get your new one?
Jesus, teach me that getting Christianity is like me
having something I like and value; but, I find something else I like
better. If I am going to trade something
of value for something I like better, then I am going to have to give up the
one thing so I can have the other. Help
me realize that trading doesn't allow me to keep what I have. I must give what
I have so someone will give me what they have. Help me see that You are requiring me to make a trade. But, once I make the trade, the old has
gone, the new has come!
2.
You Obey Jesus' Commands By Knowing
How The Trade Works
Mat 13:44-46 (NIV) The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and
then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went
away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Jesus, help me see that You aren't allowing me to
continue to live in my old life. You are
expecting me to make a clean break from my old life and embrace my new
life. Help me see how valuable my new
life is so I won't want to go back to my old one. Help me see that trades don't allow me to
keep both things. Let me feel the joy,
happiness, and excitement that comes by me seeing how great a trade I
made.
3.
You Obey Jesus' Commands By Actually
Making The Trade
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ: You have been looking at remaining in Jesus
and learning how to do it. You have seen
the benefits that come from you being willing to allow Jesus to provide
you with the love you need. He is no
longer asking you to come to Him; He is asking you to remain in Him. That means you like being in Him, His love,
and His Words.
Jesus, I love my new life and I hate my old
one. I am remaining in You because I
want to advance into all You have for me. Help me see that remaining in You isn't a life of staying where I
am. To remain in You is to advance into
the greatest way of life in existence. Help me forget what was behind me in my old life and press on into all
You have prepared for me.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty-One
Did You Know Commands Create
Transformation?
Week Nine Day
Three
How To Be Transformed
Mat 28:19-20 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them
to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age. You are to take the commands of Jesus and help
people embrace and learn how to live them. You are to teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded you to
do; that is the job of every mature Christian.
Jesus, help me cooperate with Your mature
Christians, as they teach me to obey everything You have commanded me
to obey. Help me see these commands as
words that are coming from eternal knowledge, foreknowledge, understanding,
wisdom, and love. Help me see them as
being vital, powerful, and transforming. Speak faith into me so I receive Your commands as creative power that
changes my life into good works of righteousness.
1.
Ask Jesus To Help
You Understand The Reason For These Commands
John 15:14 (NIV) You are My
friends if you do what I command. The problem
is, Jesus' commands and teachings are too overwhelming and impossible for you
to live. If you take all the commands of
Jesus and just learn them, they will cause you to feel inadequate and weak. They become too frustrating, too demanding,
and too strict. But, if you
understand the creative power of Jesus' commands, you will receive a miracle
into your life.
Jesus,
You commanded the universe and the earth to come into existence. You commanded the storm to calm down. You commanded demons to come out of people. You commanded the dead you arise. And, you commanded a prostitute to go her way
and sin no more. Help me see the
supernatural, transformative, and creative power in your commands. Help me see that they aren't putting demands
on me, they are expecting me to believe and receive.
2.
Ask Jesus To Speak Faith Into You Based On His Commands
John 15:17 (NIV) This is My command: Love each other. You start getting somewhere, when you
deal with the commands of Jesus like power. Jesus' commands become a healing power when you see Him speak against
your weakness creating you to be willing to love someone when you really don't
like them. You feel like one of those
sick people that just got healed, when He commands you to do what you couldn't
do before. Faith in the power of His
commands will make all the difference in the world.
Jesus,
help me see your commands as the healing words you spoke to sick people. Help me see Your commands as deliverance from
my struggles like You spoke to the storms. Help me see your commands as setting me free from difficulties with sin
like you spoke to the prostitute setting her free from sexual addiction. Speak faith into me for each and every
command I come across in Your Word.
3.
Ask Jesus To Help
You Understand Why You Should
John 12:49 (NIV) For I did not speak of My own accord, but the Father Who
sent Me commanded Me what to say and how to say it. You can see
the Father empowering Jesus Who in turn is speaking creative power into
you. If Jesus obeyed His Father's
commands, you can see the vital necessity of getting commands. The Father wasn't just bossing Jesus
around. Jesus isn't doing that to you
either. There is a creative power-flow
that commands provide.
Jesus, heal me from attitudes that keep me from
being willing to be commanded. Free me
from pride that raises up when I am told what to do. Show me that You aren't like us humans that
enjoy exercising power over people. You
are doing what it takes to expose me to spiritual procedures that bring results
into my life. Since You are my Savior,
Lord, and King, help me be willing to be told what to do, even if You were
bossing me around.
What Does Jesus' Love Look Like?
Why should you obey Jesus'
commands? The first thing you need to
consider is, what do you feel is most important, most challenging, and if you
were helped with it, would give you the most benefit? Let's take a look at Bartimaeus' life and see
what was important to him.
1.
Ask Jesus To Help
You Know He Has What You Want
Mark 10:46-47 (NIV) Then they came to Jericho. As
Jesus and His disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a
blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the
roadside begging. When he heard that
it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on me!" What do you think he wanted? Why was he trying to get Jesus'
attention? People tried to get him to
shut up and leave Jesus alone. Why wouldn't
he shut up and leave Jesus alone? Jesus
had something he needed and wanted. Jesus has so many things you need; and, He wants to give them to
you.
Jesus, Bartimaeus had a specific need; he had a
special opportunity to get that need met; and, even though he was faced with
obstacles, he made his request known to You. Help me see what my needs are, see my window of opportunity to get them
met, and push through any obstacles that try to keep me from getting them met
through You.
2.
Ask Jesus To Help You Know You Must Do What He Asks
Mark
10:49 (NIV) Jesus stopped and said,
"Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's
calling you." Jesus, if
Bartimaeus had insisted that You come to him, or, if he said, "no, He can stay
where He is and just heal me from there," he wouldn't be doing what he was
told; he would have remained blind. Help me be like Bartimaeus and obey what You told the people to tell him
to do. Help me realize that obeying Your
commands are vital!
3.
Ask Jesus To Help You Respond Immediately
Mark 10:50 (NIV) Throwing his cloak aside, he
jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
Jesus, Bartimaeus' didn't just obey and come to
You. He jumped to his feet and came. Help me to be like that and be ready to not
only obey but to do it with haste. Help
me to so love you and be in a remaining condition that my whole heart is
devoted to doing what you require of me. I want to have such a love and respect for You that it is a privilege
and an honor to be commanded to do something by You.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You
Be Ready To Respond To His Questions
Mark
10:51 (NIV) "What do you want Me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to
see." Jesus, help me understand why You would ask a blind
man what he wanted? Show me that I have
to be specific because You are always honoring my God-given free will. Help me not think Your question is
unnecessary or obvious. When You ask me
a question, help me honor Your incredible wisdom and thought processes.
5.
Ask Jesus To Help You Know You Have To Have The Faith To
Receive The Answer
Mark
10:52 (NIV) "Go," said Jesus, "your
faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus
along the road. Jesus,
sometimes The Three Keys seem like they are too much trouble; Sometimes I just
want to get my Bible reading over; I don't want to learn how to obey Your
commands. I feel like Christianity
doesn't take all this "stuff." But, help
me be like Bartimaeus, and "do what it takes" to get the faith I need for the
results I am looking for. Help me be totally
obedient to Your slightest requirement.
6.
Ask Jesus To Help You Know You Have To Be Willing To "Do
What It Takes"
If
you obey My commands,
you will remain in My love, just as I have
obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love: Jesus, it was a complicated, very involved thing that You had to do in order to
obey Your Father's commands and remain in His love. Why should You leave heaven and come down
here as a baby? Why should You
have to go around teaching, healing, preaching, and training people? Why should You have to go over all those
"long, drawn out" sermons and teachings? Why couldn't You just come as a man, go to the cross, get crucified, be
buried, raise from the dead, and go back to heaven and get it over with? Help me be obedient like You were; I want to
yield to Your commands.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty-Two
Are You Taking Full
Advantage Of Your New Life?
Week Nine Day Four
How To Trade Happiness For Joy
John 15:11 (NIV) I have told you this so that My joy
may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
You have to see your old life for
what it is and your new life for what it is. If there is any confusion as to the wrong, bad, and evil of the old
life, then it will try to draw you back in. If there is any misunderstanding as to what your new life offers, then
you won't appreciate it enough to want to keep it. It is all dependent on how you see
your new and old life.
You have to see your old life for
what it was: Are you
still doing what you think it will take to get happiness? Jesus is offering you a way to get something
far superior to happiness. Jesus is
telling you how to get joy; it is an experience that is much more powerful,
much more lasting, and much more rewarding than happiness.
Jesus, help me believe that my new life is far
superior to my new life. Help me see
that even though I am getting a lot of advantages for being set free from my
old life. That isn't all You have to
offer. Help me see that even though my
new life is giving me a lot of benefits that, that isn't all it has to offer
either. Make it clear to me that as God,
You have plans and provisions that are far beyond anything I am able to think
about or anticipate.
You have to see your new life for
what it is: Joy is the emotion that can
take you through circumstances that would typically make you unhappy. Happiness comes and goes depending on what is
happening to you. Joy is a positive
feeling that keeps you upbeat so you will be able to handle and defeat those
things that are making you unhappy; joy stays with you even when happiness is
gone. It defeats sadness, depression,
fear, helplessness, and hopelessness.
1.
You Get Joy Through The Words Of Jesus
I
have told you this so that: Jesus, teach me that when I face problems,
struggles, temptations, difficult circumstances, and unhappiness, joy keeps me
excited, filled with faith, having great expectations, and ready to face all
issues. Show me that it gives my heart a
powerful, positive emotion that it can hold onto all during the absence of
happiness. The reason You are telling me
these things is so that I can receive it from You.
2.
You Get Joy
Through Your Relationship With Jesus
I
have told you this so that my joy may be in you: Jesus, You have been taking me through
John 15:1-17 so that I might get
Your joy! These verses are Your
instructions for how I can get You joy into my heart. Show me that it is a new emotion that
my heart has never had before. It is a
powerful and positive emotion that works totally different from the way my
heart typically works. Help me see that
it is a power to help me face those things I have to have faith for. It is the power for me to face things I would
typically worry about, fear, get depressed about, be filled with doubts
concerning, and be defeated by.
3.
You Get Joy Through The Power Of Jesus
The emotions that typically come
from your heart are based on experiences and events. You can find yourself sad, depressed, feeling
hopeless, upset, mad, or frustrated at a time when you need to be able to take
positive actions. You need your heart to
be supplying you with an emotion that will help you feel good enough to
be able to deal with the problem, relationship, or issue.
4. Stop Doing What You Think Would Bring
You Happiness
Jesus, since happiness fails me because I am looking
at the circumstances, help me stop hunting for it. Since the power of Your joy helps me because
I am looking at You, help me embrace it. Show me that joy doesn't fail me because I am not thinking about what
the circumstances can do to me; that would create fear. Joy empowers me because I am thinking about
what You are going to do to me, for me, with me, and through me.
5.
You Get Joy Through The Completion Of
Jesus
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and
that your joy may be complete: Bearing the fruit of loving one another is the key
to your joy being complete. There was a
dissatisfaction, something missing, a hole, and a longing that remained in your
heart during your old life. You found
yourself looking, searching, hungering, longing, and wishing for something that
you couldn't seem to identify. Your
problem was where you were looking so as to get happiness.
Jesus, now that I am remaining in You, joy is the
power that fills my heart. Since I am
connected to You, the Vine, I as a branch, am receiving this emotion that helps
me be strong in You, the Lord, and in Your mighty power (Eph 6:10). You took me through all those verses so that
You could give me a power that helps me face things with a whole new
emotion. Thank You for giving me all
that training so I could get to this place.
John 15:11 (NIV) I have told you this so that My joy
may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Suppose you ran your business
with joy; what if you approached your dating, courtship, marriage, friendships,
associates, clients, employer, employee, or enemy with joy? Would you have better friendships, if you yielded
to this joy from Jesus? What kind of a
life would you have, if Jesus' joy became the power-emotion of your heart? All your relationships would be filled with
thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds that produced win/win results.
I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and
that your joy may be complete. Jesus is saying that He took you through all that
training on remaining in Him, His words, and His love so that His
joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. He
isn't going to command all those things without also empowering you to do
them. But, power without joy is just the
ability to do what you are told. It
doesn't make you happy, excited, motivated, or passionate about being empowered
to do it.
Jesus, I thank You that you not only are empowering
me to remain in you, your words, and your love. You are filling me with joy that floods my heart with positive emotions
while I am doing it. As I experience the
incredible emotion of love, it would have been more than enough to motivate me
to obey your command. But, as usual, You
have gone far beyond and have filled me with Your joy. I yield to Your joy so it can be complete in
me.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty-Three
How Is Your Joy Doing?
Week Nine Day Five
How To Stay In Joy
1.
Ask Jesus To Help You Find Out What Is
He Trying To Tell You
John 15:11 (NIV) I have told you this so that My
joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. Jesus always
has a very important and vital reason for saying things. John 6:63 (NIV) The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts
for nothing. The words I have
spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Jesus is your only hope for seeing your life move into eternal
life. He is your only hope for having a
life here and in eternity that really counts for something. He gives you purpose, victory, happiness,
joy, and fulfillment. If you don't
understand that He alone has the true information, you will hear but not
accept it; you will hear but not see its importance; and you will hear but not
act on it.
Jesus, when You speak, help me really
listen. Help my heart wait with
anticipation for the truth to be revealed to me. Let my mind be ready to understand what You
are wanting to explain. Help me be
willing to accept it as the whole truth and the real meaning to life. Empower me to so respect Your words that I am
ready to "do what it takes" to let them be a part of who I am. Show me that, if I do this, then I will be
ready to get what You offer.
2.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand What
He Is Wanting To Give You
I have told you this so that: Jesus is wanting to accomplish something in
you. He is wanting to give you things
that you really need. He is speaking
words to you so
that they will lead you into things
that are going to be very good for you. He is addressing needs in your life that His words will solve and bless
in you; they are vital for your life and eternal life.
Jesus, I want to expect You and Your words to lead
me into things that I have been needing and looking for, for a long time. I am right on the edge of getting truths that
have the power to set me free from things that are hurting me. Help me be ready and waiting for You to give
them to me, and, for me to get their benefits. Help me be ready and excited about it, be
anticipating their benefits, and expecting them to do what You are saying they
will do.
3.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand Why He
Is Giving You His Joy
I have told you this so that my joy may be
in you: Now you know what Jesus words are
leading you into. He is telling you all these
things so you can have His joy empowering you to face life. He is giving you something that sets the tone
for your emotions and attitudes; it makes you positive and strong. He is teaching and speaking things into you;
these words help you be filled with an excitement that handles any
situation. Believe they will do this for
you.
Jesus, I am no longer hunting for happiness; I no
longer have to wait for the victory before I can be excited again. I no longer have to face my problems with
worry, fear, uncertainty, confusion, doubts, and negative emotions. Let Your joy be right there in my heart
giving me the feelings of faith, positive expectations, excitement, good
anticipation, and the assurance that the things in my life are going to work
out for my good. This is what I
want.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You Understand How He
Uses Your Joy
I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and
that your joy may be complete: You are
moving into an emotion that is complete; it won't need any additional
support. It's an attitude that looks
into the future and sees the love, power, provisions, and honesty of God. It is an emotion that supports your faith,
reliance, dependency, trust, and belief in the honesty, integrity, and
trustworthiness of your heavenly Father.
Jesus, help me except Your words: "my joy may be
in you." Make my joy be complete by You giving me Your joy. Let Your
joy make me complete; let Your joy make me ready to start obeying Your
commandments and teachings. Set me free
from seeing the impossibility of things because happiness has failed me. Let Your emotions help me believe You will
fulfill everything in me. Give me Your
excitement and positive attitudes.
Ask For Jesus' Help Getting The Four Things You Need
Ask Him To Help You Accept What He Is Telling You
John 15:10-11 (NIV) (1) If you obey My commands, (2) you will remain in My love, just
as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that (3) My
joy may be in you and that (4) your joy may be complete. What are the
four things you need to desire, study about, pray for, believe you have,
want the motive of love for, and take faith-action on? How do you lay them out so you can start
getting them in your life?
First, List Them Out So You Can Identify Them
1. If you obey My commands: Jesus, help
me obey Your commands through Your joy.
2. You will remain in My love: Let Your joy
empower me to remain in Your love.
3. My joy may be in you: Let Your joy
always fill my heart, mind, and life.
4. Your joy may be complete: Let Your joy
make me complete.
Second, Take The Three Keys To All Of
Christianity And Ask, Seek, and Knock:
1.
Jesus, I ask that my heart's desire
be to obey Your commands, remain in Your love, receive Your joy, and let
my joy be complete moment-by-moment and issue-by-issue all during each event of
my day.
2.
Jesus, I seek the truths of my
Bible as I study. Give me Scriptures
that help me obey Your commands, remain in Your love, receive Your joy,
and let my joy be complete.
3.
Jesus, I ask You to help me
continue to pray during my day to obey Your commands, remain in
Your love, receive Your joy, and let my joy be complete as I face each issue of
my day; I also ask You to remind me to pray.
4.
Jesus, I ask for Your faith to
help me believe; help me see how important it is for me to keep my eyes
fixed on You for Your faith. I ask for
Your faith so I can make all the right decisions and take all the right actions
through me believing I can obey Your commands, I can remain in
Your love, that I have Your joy, and that my joy is complete. I ask You to empower me to keep my
attention focused on You.
5.
Jesus, I knock on the doors of
opportunity to help others obey Your commands, remain in Your love,
have Your joy, and their joy be complete. Let Your love be the motivator of each decision and action I take
during the day. Help there be moments
when I pause before I make decisions and ask You to check my heart. Let it be a time for allowing You to examine
my motives and a time of asking for Your help.
6. Jesus, I ask You to let this produce moment-by-moment, issue-by-issue faith-action
of me obeying Your commands, remaining in Your love, having Your joy,
and my joy being
complete as I live my life each day. Let
that give me a lifestyle of God's love and Your joy all day long through
continuous prayer and sharing with others.
7.
Jesus, as You empower me
to obey Your commands, remain in Your love, receive Your joy, and let my
joy be complete as I face each issue of my day, give me a great thankfulness
for You doing this awesome thing in my life. Help me see the results of me going through these steps and you taking
Your supernatural steps to fulfill them in me. Help me give you the credit and the glory for how my life
is turning out.
This concludes your reading and prayers for this
week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty-Four
Do You Feel Better About Commands From Jesus?
Week Ten Day One
How To React To Jesus' Commands
John 15:11 (NIV) I have told you this so that My joy
may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:12 (NIV) My command is this: Love
each other as I have loved you.
Moving Into Love Through The Power Of
Joy
Jesus taught you that, if you remain in Him, in His words, and in His love, that will bring
His joy into your life. He taught you
that "all" you have to do is, love each other with the same act of love as
Jesus demonstrated to you. Now, the big
question is, how do you accomplish such a supernatural feat? Can you think of someone you don't want to
love with Jesus' love?
Jesus, this is where I run up against an assignment
that is so big, so overwhelming, and so impossible for me that I just move
on. I often just read it and give up on
that happening to me. Sometimes I read
it and hope that "someday" I will have it happen to me. But, help me understand that You are trying
to take me from "someday" to right here, right now.
As a new or
untrained Christian, you can
relax long enough to learn how to obey. As long as you want to do it (Romans 7:15-25), it is
credited to your record as you loving each other as Jesus loved you. You and those around you aren't
experiencing it yet; but, God is accepting it as being done through this
grace-provision. This gives you time
to "do what it takes" to actually obey this command. You learned that credited obedience and
actual obedience are different. Actual
obedience changes your behavior with you, others, and God.
Jesus, teach me that justification gives me a
perfect record with God. It keeps
me remaining in You, Your words, and Your love. Since it is being credited to my record, show me that You, Your
words, and Your love are remaining in me and me
in them. Since that is the case, help me
see that I have all I need to move on from just wanting to love others
into actually being able to demonstrate God's love to others; this will
be me taking faith-action.
Finding Out What The Benefits Are
My command is this: Jesus keeps working
around this issue of what the benefits will be if you obey His command. He sets the stage for you realizing that once
you find out what His main command is, you will be able to get His love and His
joy so you can actually love each other as I have loved you (John
15:12).
The Objective Is To "Do What It
Takes"
John
14:15 (NIV) If you love Me, you will obey what I command. Jesus, since I love You, I trust You. Since I trust You I am ready for You to
command or create the ability for me to obey everything You teach. With that power commanded inside me, make it
clear to me that everything just being credited to me as a perfect record with
God is changing. I am now being
empowered to start actually living those things You taught.
The
Result Of "Doing What It Takes" Is A Lifestyle Change
Mat 28:19-20 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age.
Jesus,
because You have helped me understand that Your commands speak power into me, I
believe I have the ability to obey. Show
me that if I didn't know that, I would look to myself and TRY to obey using my
human efforts, abilities, skills, talents, and world training. But, since I know You are creating the power
for me to obey, I obey through faith in the fact that I have Your power. I take faith-action based on what You are
empowering me to do.
Stepping Into "The Jesus Life"
The First Step Is To Know What The
Provisions Are
John 14:21a (NIV) Whoever has My
commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. Jesus, I know
Your commands created power to obey. I
know I can start showing love for You by obeying. As I read my Bible, help me not read it as a
human. Empower me to read it as a child
of God. You commanded me and I received
the power of Your commands.
The Second Step Is To Know What The Benefits Are
John 14:21b (NIV) He who loves Me will
be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him. Jesus, as You and my Father love me, show me that I am being empower to yield to His love. Teach me that as You show Yourself to me,
love flows in and through me in power. I
experience abilities to yield to Your thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds
through love. This is how I am able to
live the Jesus-life!
The Third Step Is To Accept Jesus' Teachings As Commands
John 14:23 (NIV) Jesus replied, "If
anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come
to him and make Our home with him. Jesus, here You change the word from command to
teaching. You reveal that Your
commands are those things You have been teaching. Help me see that all Your teachings are a
part of Your commands. So, show me that it
is important for me to receive them in creative power. As I try to obey, help me do it
through faith that I now have Your power to do what I am taught. Help me understand that I may feel the same;
but, it all has to do with what I believe is empowering me to do it. 2 Cor 5:7 (NIV) We live by faith, not by sight.
If anyone loves Me, he will obey My
teaching: Jesus, empower me to not doubt, not
worry, and not let my past failures influence my current faith. Show me that I am moving from being a new or
untrained Christian into Your powerful teachings (commands). Teach me that my love for You will give me
the desire to obey You. It will empower
me to study and learn Your commands and teachings. It will show me what I need to pray for. And, it will bring me to the place where I am
looking to You for Your faith so I can believe in Your power.
The Fourth Step Is To Not Join The Disobedient
John 14:24 (NIV) He who does not love
Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father Who sent
Me. Jesus, show me what could cause me to not obey Your
teachings (commands). Help me see that
in my case, it will typically be a faith issue. I am now being required to believe in the power of Your teachings rather
than in my ability to carry them out. I'm required to believe I am now empowered to obey things that I wasn't
capable of doing before. Help me believe
You will help me.
The Fifth Step Is To Want To Remain In Jesus' Love
John 15:10 (NIV) If you obey My
commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My
Father's commands and remain in His love. Jesus, this
can be scarry! I don't feel any
different. I don't feel like Your
commands created power in me. Help me
understand that You don't want my faith in my feelings; You want it in Your
commands. Empower
me to accept this command in faith: John 15:9 (NIV) As the Father has loved
Me, so have I loved you. Now remain
in My love. I believe this
teaching/command created this power in me. I believe that I am now remaining in Your love through Your faith in
me.
The Sixth Step Is To Take Faith-Action
My command is this: Love each other as
I have loved you. Jesus,
I believe the power is in me to do this. But, help me see that it is now a matter of me learning how to live by
faith. Rom
1:17 (NIV) For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a
righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is
written: "The righteous will live by faith." Now You are moving me into actually
doing things that before were only credited to my perfect record with God. I thank You for leading me into this powerful
faith-life.
The
Seventh Step Is To Be Thankful
2
Cor 4:15 (NIV) All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that
is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to
the glory of God. Jesus, help my thankfulness spread
into the lives of those who are coming to You. Let them see my thankfulness and join me in praising You and
giving You the glory for the transformations in their lives. Eph 1:16 (NIV) I have not stopped giving thanks for
you, remembering you in my prayers. Help me never stop thanking You for flowing through me into the
lives of those who didn't know You. Give
me a thankful heart for the fact that they are now going to spend
eternity with You and with me.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty-Five
Are You Ready And
Willing To Live By Faith?
Week Ten Day Two
The
Objective Is To "Do What It Takes"
John 14:15 (NIV) If
you love Me, you will obey what I command.
•
The First Step Is To Know What The
Provisions Are: Jesus' commands create power inside you to live
Biblically.
•
The Second Step Is To Know What The
Benefits Are: Jesus and Your Father will surround you with a love that
will flow in and through you to others.
•
The Third Step Is To Accept Jesus'
Teachings As Commands: When you expose yourself to the
teachings of the Bible, they have the same power as Jesus' commands.
•
The Fourth Step Is To Not Join The
Disobedient: Just because you have failed in the past, because you were
trying to use human effort, doesn't mean you will fail now. You now have Jesus' creative power in you for
you to have faith, so you can obey.
•
The Fifth Step Is To Want To Remain In
Jesus' Love: Even though you don't feel any different, believe you have
Jesus' power created inside you to remain in His love.
•
The Sixth Step Is To Take
Faith-Action: You may be new at this; but, practice will take you from
where you are and help you get good at living by means of Jesus' power-faith
that He has spoken into you. The more
you practice, the more you will win.
•
The Seventh Step Is To Be Thankful:
As you get good at living by means of Jesus' power-faith, give Him the credit,
the glory, the praise, and thanksgiving. Let this develop an incredible love and appreciation in Your heart for
Jesus.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved
you. It sounds impossible; but, as you keep
taking these seven steps and putting them into practice, you will get better
and better at living a life of faith and love. This is your objective and this is Jesus' plan for your life.
Having The Way To Fulfilling These
Seven Steps
If it weren't for you being able
to ask Jesus to help you believe, being able to seek His truths
in the Bible, and being able to knock on the doors of opportunity to share
Jesus' love with others, you would be faced with a lot of possible reactions to
these powerful truths from Jesus.
You would either: have no idea
how to go about taking these seven steps, try to live them by your own human
effort, pray and beg God to please fulfill these things in your life, wish and
wait for your Christian experience to grow into them, hope that "someday" they
will eventually happen, spend a lot of time trying to find the instructions for
how to love each other as Jesus has loved you, or decide that
none of this is possible for you and give up or try to go back to living the
Romans 7:15-24 life.
Taking These Seven Steps Takes
Supernatural Power Of Faith
1.
The
First Step Is To Know What The Provisions Are:
John
14:21a (NIV) Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who
loves Me. Jesus, help me
be able to understand, feel excited about, and become motivated by these
benefits. Let this come through the
verses in John 15:1-17.
2. The
Second Step Is To Know What The Benefits Are:
John
14:21b (NIV) He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love
him and show Myself to him. Jesus, as You
and my Father love me, help me be receptive to being loved. Help me not consider whether or not I am
worthy. Help me receive this love
through grace and mercy. Free me from
anything that would keep me from being able to feel Your love filling my
heart. Teach me how to receive gifts of
love from my heavenly Father. Empower me
to yield to being loved so I can help others also yield to Your love without
them having to feel worthy.
3. The
Third Step Is To Accept Jesus' Teachings As Commands
John
14:23 (NIV) Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will obey My
teaching. My Father will love
him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Jesus, You changed the word from command to
teaching here. Help me respond in faith
to your teaching with the same faith that I yield to the power of your
commands. Open my heart to the power of
Your teaching in every verse in the Bible. Help me realize that those books written by humans, as a part of my
Bible, came straight from You. Show me
that they have the same power as those words in the Gospels. Let me read them and receive them in total
faith that they are creating those things in me.
If
anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching: Jesus, help me open my heart to the power
that creates transformation in me. Help
me be able to yield to that transformation and allow it to empower me to live a
different life. Help me believe that You
created the truths of every verse in the Bible in me as I believe it. Show me how to live on the basis of that
transformation that took place from that verse. Let that verse become real to me and show me how I am at that moment
empowered to live as a transformed person. Help me to read carefully, prayerfully, and faithfully. Give me the respect and honor to the Bible
that it deserves.
4. The
Fourth Step Is To Not Join The Disobedient
John 14:24 (NIV) He who does not love
Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father Who sent
Me. Jesus, what could cause me to not obey Your
teachings (commands)? Show me that in my
case it would typically be because I am not looking to You for faith. Show me that You are my source of being able
to believe in these things presented in the Bible. You alone can empower me to respect and honor
the principles in each verse in the Bible. It is Your faith that is powerful enough to help me receive the creative
transformation each verse is speaking into me. Help me fix my eyes on You.
5. The
Fifth Step Is To Want To Remain In Jesus' Love
John 15:10 (NIV) If you obey My
commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My
Father's commands and remain in His love. Jesus, this can be scarry! I don't
feel any different. Help me allow Your
emotions from Galatians 5:22-23 start giving me the feelings I need. Let them empower my emotions with such
excitement and passion that I am motivated to believe You have transformed me
through these things You have been teaching me. Help these truths to not only change the thoughts of my mind but also
transform the feelings in my heart. Empower my heart to be so
filled with your emotions that it is easy for me to live this new way.
6. The
Sixth Step Is To Take Faith-Action
My
command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Jesus,
speak faith into me to believe that the power is in me to do this. Let me know I have been transformed. Help me live on the basis of the fact that
these Scriptures have transformed me. Join me in living life through You and Your creative power. Let this power flow from the Bible into my
life. Then let me yield to You and Your
life. Help me understand that this
transformation is empowering me to remain in You and You remaining in me. Make it clear to me that You are now living
Your life in and through me.
7.
The Seventh Step Is To Be Thankful
John 14:23 (NIV) Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will obey
My teaching. My Father will love
him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Jesus,
help me be thankful for You giving me such a wonderful relationship with
You and my heavenly Father. If You
hadn't told me this, I wouldn't even know such a relationship was available to
me. And now, You are giving me the
directions and power to receive this dynamic relationship. Thank You for making it available to
me and then empowering me to not only get it for myself, I can start sharing
these teachings and commands to those around me.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty-Six
What Made David Such
A Person Of Faith?
Week Ten Day Three
David's
Example Of Living By Faith
One of the best examples of a person who knew how to live
by faith was David. When he was just a
young man out tending his father's sheep, he spent his time with God. Saul was the king in Israel during the time
David was growing up. He was a man who
mainly believed in himself. After Saul
had committed several sins, God decided to replace him with David. But, David was too young to be made
responsible for being king. So, God
anointed him king; but, He didn't allow David to actually take the position. Here is how it all started:
A Man Living By Faith In Himself
1 Sam 16:1 (NIV) The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will
you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your
horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I
have chosen one of his sons to be king." When a prophet of God anointed someone with oil, the power
of God would come on that person in a special way. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would
only come on those who were required to serve in special ways for God. So, Samuel went to anoint David king.
A
Man Who Looked Like He Lived By Faith
1 Sam 16:6-7 (NIV) When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and
thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the LORD." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider
his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not
look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the
LORD looks at the heart." This
is the way God is looking at you. Jesus
is working on the attitudes and character of your heart and mind. He is pleased with the way you are yielding
to Him.
A
Man Who Didn't Look Like He Lived By Faith
1
Sam 16:13a (NIV) So Samuel took the horn
of oil and anointed him (David) in the presence of his brothers, and from
that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Jesus, David had a lot of learning to do. God had and was going to take him through
many life-classes. Like David, help me
see that I have been anointed with the Holy Spirit so I can do those special
things God wants me to do. Teach me that
New Testament Christians all get the Holy Spirit inside them. That means I have power I didn't have
before.
Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The Holy Spirit is going to help you live such a wonderful life of
providing people with win/win opportunities, you will be a witness to them of
how great Jesus is.
Eph
3:16 (NIV) That out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power
through His Spirit in your inner being. Jesus, as I look at David's life, help me
realize why his life is so important to me. Help me see that his story isn't just for my entertainment; it is to
serve as an example for me to follow so I can live by faith like he did. Let the life of how David lived by faith show
me what it looks like. Teach me these
same faith principles.
As you know, David's dad sent him to go check on his brothers who were in
King Saul's army. Once he got there, he
heard Goliath challenging the Jews to send out one of their champions to fight
with him. The challenge was: the ones
whose champion was killed, would be slaves of the ones whose champion killed
their champion.
1 Sam 17:32 (NIV) David said to Saul, "Let no one lose
heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." It is very important that you understand that
these were words of faith. The reason
they weren't bragging is because of where David's faith was. If these words were being expressed based on
David's faith in his skills, talents, training, experiences, abilities, or
confidence, then it would have been self-esteem and self-confidence.
1
Sam 17:33 (NIV) Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this
Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man
from his youth." Jesus, show me that these are truths from a
human perspective. If David went without
a relationship with God, he would have lost and the Israelites would have been
slaves to the Philistines. Help me
understand that living and speaking words of faith aren't just positive
confession. I have to have an intimate
relationship with God that creates Your life and power inside me.
1 Sam 17:34-35
(NIV) But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's
sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I
went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned
on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Jesus probably isn't calling you to do hand-to-hand combat with wild
animals. This was David's life class for
becoming a warrior. But, it is vital
that you see your life-classes as being just as supernatural and
God-sized. Just by confessing that Jesus
is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you
became a child of God, a member of His family, and a citizen in His eternal
Kingdom. That's power.
1
Sam 17:36 (NIV) Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this
uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the
armies of the living God. Jesus, like David, help me use my past
miracles and supernatural experiences with God to get me ready for my next
assignment. Help me do that with my
salvation and justification. The fact
that I experienced such transforming power required that I get faith in
spiritual procedures just like David was required to have faith in God for
physical combat.
Rom 10:8 (NIV) But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your
mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming. This battle you fought and won is actually
more impressive and victorious than David killing a lion and a bear. You defeated Satan, the sinful nature in your
body, and your world training. David
didn't use the same techniques with the lion and the bear as he used on
Goliath. But, you will always use this
Romans 10:8 technique for every battle you fight from now on.
Rom
10:9 (NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in
your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Jesus,
make me impressed with the magnitude of the victory I got, when I did this and
was born again. Just through this
supernatural procedure, I became a new creation in You (2 Cor 5:17). Help me be ecstatic that I passed from
spiritual death to eternal life. Show me
that I beat Satan, the evil lion: 1 Pet 5:8 (NIV) Be self-controlled and
alert. Your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Rom 10:10 (NIV) For it is with your heart that you believe and are
justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Salvation cleansed you from all your past,
present, and future sins. Justification
gave you a perfect record with God. Isn't that a much more impressive battle than the one David fought with
the lion and the bear? If you allow this
to affect you like David did with his battles, then you will have the faith and
the determination to win in you next battle.
1
Sam 17:37 (NIV) The LORD Who delivered me from the paw of the lion and
the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you." Jesus, help me always realize, in the back of my mind, that it is God
doing the empowering, guiding, and providing the instructions. Show me that when I realize that, it is then
that those things I say and do are fulfilled by You. When I give You credit in my conversations,
that is when You go with me into the battles.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty-Seven
Do You Believe God
Will Come Through?
Week Ten Day Four
How To
Yield To Jesus
David is putting his life on the line. He started doing that back with the lion and the bear. Back then it was "just for sheep." Now he is doing it for his own country and kinsmen. You don't have to take on a huge assignment of living by faith. As long as you aren't already facing a giant, it is good for you to start out small and work your way up. But, the main issue is to get started. Don't wait any longer; get as much practice in as you can so you will be ready for the giants in your life. Let David show you how to get started.
1. Believe
God Speaks With Power
1 Sam 17:40 (NIV) Then he took his staff in his hand, chose
five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag
and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. This isn't a presentation of how great David
is. This is your example of what the
power of God looks like. Samuel anointed
David and he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is what God can do in a simple shepherd boy. God was giving him courage, faith, power,
wisdom, and guidance. You will live just
like everyone else, if you don't take advantage of the fact that you have the
Holy Spirit inside you.
2.
Know Your
Battle Is In The Spirit Ream
1
Sam 17:41 (NIV) Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of
him, kept coming closer to David. Jesus, show me that Satan isn't afraid of me;
I look like an insignificant bump in the road on the outside. Teach me that as long as I continue to just
be a human, I never will pose a problem to him. But, the moment I became a child of God, Satan's evaluation of me
changed drastically. Help me see that,
at first, I didn't know how to use my new acquired position, abilities,
equipment, and potential. But now,
things are really starting to change.
3.
Accept The Way God Sees You
1 Sam 17:42 (NIV) He looked David over and saw that he was
only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. The important thing here is, David had to
ignore what he looked like on the outside. He also had to ignore what Goliath thought of him. He had to keep his eyes on who he was
in God. If he allowed himself to take
his eyes off of who God was empowering him to be, he would lose. Faith is your major spiritual tool for keeping
you connected to God. You, learning how
to use your eyes of faith to keep your mind and your heart looking at and
trusting God, is what you are practicing the most.
4.
Fight The Battle With Words
1 Sam 17:43 (NIV) He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you
come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. If you aren't locked into faith in Jesus,
Satan will do his best to try to convince you that you are the weak link in the
God/you relationship. However, God's
power is greater where you are weak. He
is making up the difference.
5.
Don't Listen To Satan's Threats
1
Sam 17:44 (NIV) "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of
the air and the beasts of the field!" Jesus, help me realize that Satan will speak
in my mind and give me thoughts that will try to set a worst-case scenario for
me to believe. Make it clear to me that
he can't make me believe what he is saying; but, he will say it in such a way
that it appears to be my thoughts and beliefs. He is hoping I will think his words sound like my thoughts and that I
will believe they are my thoughts. But, teach me that they won't become my thoughts as long as I reject
them as being something I believe.
1
Sam 17:45 (NIV) David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword
and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty,
the God of the armies of Israel, Whom you have defied. Jesus, teach me that I am not only speaking against Satan, I am speaking
to my heart and telling it what to believe. I am also speaking to God and letting Him flow through my words. Show me that these words must be
spoken with determination, conviction, faith, assurance, and power. Empower my heart to get excited and assured
as I speak. Let me feel the power of God
flow in and through me. Help me keep
saying things like this until my heart starts feeling the power of God.
7.
Make Your Spiritual Proclamations
1 Sam 17:46 (NIV) This
day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off
your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds
of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that
there is a God in Israel. This is a little boy saying this. David isn't speaking from human effort, believing in himself, or with
self-confidence or esteem. He is and has
been allowing the reality of how powerful, incredible, and awesome God is to
shape his faith, philosophies, mind-set, and the convictions of his heart. The more you talk and think like this, the
more you are strong in the Lord and in His mighty power
(Eph 6:10).
8.
Keep Your Spiritual Goal In Mind
1
Sam 17:47 (NIV) All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or
spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give all
of you into our hands." Jesus, show me that it isn't about me; it is
about me bringing glory to Your greatness. Help me let those around me know what my goal and purposes are. Let me tell them and myself what is going to
happen and why. As God does great things
in and through me, I and those around me know where the victory came from. They need You in their life. They need to believe in You. They need to see what You do in and through
Your people.
1.
When Satan Comes At You Move Forward
1 Sam 17:48 (NIV) As the Philistine moved closer to attack
him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Be aggressive! Let the assurance, the faith, the power, and
the presence of God go out to meet your circumstances, the temptations, and the
problems you feel and see. Don't just
stand and let Satan set the battle strategy. Don't just let him attack. When
he moves closer to attack you, run quickly toward the battle
line to meet him. Let Jesus give you
spiritual attitudes that are very combative and hostile. They will look human; but, if you stay aware
that they are empowered by Jesus, they will be powerful.
2.
Move Forward With Great Confidence
1
Sam 17:49 (NIV) Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and
struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he
fell facedown on the ground. Jesus, help me not wait for Satan to attack
me. The moment he sends his first
thought, his first evil emotion, or his first "opportunity," help me
aggressively use the Word of God, which is the sword of the Holy Spirit. Empower me to use Biblical words and
principles at a pace that come at him like a raging river. Help me not give him the impression that I am
weak, timid, afraid, or uncertain. Help
me let him know I mean to take him out.
3.
Don't Fight With Human Effort Or World
Training
1 Sam 17:50 (NIV) So David triumphed over the Philistine
with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the
Philistine and killed him. When you use spiritual tools and weapons, you bring glory to Jesus. When you allow the Bible and a joint
relationship with Jesus to win over temptations, circumstances, diseases,
financial issues, and relational struggles, it brings a witness for Jesus to
those around you. Keep your human and
spiritual battles spiritual and your will learn how to fight the good fight of
faith.
4.
Finish The Job
1
Sam 17:51 (NIV) David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's
sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head
with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned
and ran. Jesus, help me not just win. Help me make a total victory of
it. Show me that my heart and the people
around me need to see me put the finishing touches on the battle issue. Make my objective be to see to it that, that
type of attack will never be able to reach that level of challenge again.
5.
Help Others Join In The Battle
1
Sam 17:52 (NIV) Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout
and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron.
Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. Jesus, these were people who criticized and belittled David. They were cowering and hiding for forty
days. Now, they are brave and
aggressive. Help things like that not
bother me. Help me be the starter that
brings them to the place where they should have been in the beginning. Help me forgive them and let them join me in
the victory. Make me their way into the
great things of God.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty-Eight
Can You Move The
Impossible To The Possible?
Week Ten Day Five
How To Do
The Impossible
Mat 19:26 (NIV) Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is
impossible, but with God all things are possible." David lived in the realm of the impossible
but was able to turn them into possible just by including God in his life and
activities. Jesus provided David's life
to you so you could learn how to live that type of life yourself. Let Jesus keep moving you forward into the
impossible life that is possible with God.
1.
Your Goal Is To Move From The
Impossible To The Possible
John 15:13 (NIV) Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his friends. This would change the whole world, if people lived like this. But, this type of life is impossible for
them. They want others to lay down their
life for them. So, Jesus set the
example and is now asking you to allow Him to fulfill this life in you through
Him.
Greater love has no one than this: Jesus, help me receive this supernatural, God-sized
command in John 15:12 (NIV) My command is this: Love each other as
I have loved you. Even though it
is impossible for me love "as You have loved" me, it is possible with You. You laid down Your life for Your friends;
and, that was how You demonstrated Your love for me. Help me demonstrate my love for others by
doing what You did for me.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his
life for his friends: Like David,
you have your own major difficulties, problems, issues, and needs; and, like
David, Jesus is telling you to lay down your life for your friends. How are you going to be like David and be
willing to do this? How is you laying
your life down, going to be an answer to your suffering so intensely you can
hardly survive?
2.
Your Goal Is To Believe Two Things
This is what the Scriptures in
this study have been building up to all this time. You need God-sized, supernatural, miraculous,
help. Somehow, you need to get and stay
connected to Jesus so you can have His powerful help. So, look at two verses you must accept in
order to have Jesus' knowledge, understanding, wisdom, foreknowledge of the
future, love, power, and miracles taking place in your life.
1.
Jesus, empower me to totally believe that "apart
from Me (Jesus) you can do nothing (John 15:5)."
2.
Jesus, empower me to totally believe that "I can
do everything through Him (You, Jesus) Who gives me strength
(Phil 4:13)."
3.
Your Goal Is To Move Into Jesus
Your success in life is all about
your relationship with Jesus. John
15:4 (NIV) Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. It is all about you remaining in Jesus so
He will be willing to remain in you. Once that happens, you have achieved one of the greatest things you can
ever achieve. From that point on, you
will be able to do everything through Him (Jesus) Who gives you the
strength to do it.
In Matthew 17:19-20, the
disciples had just failed to be able to help a little boy who was being
tormented by a demon. They had learned
the vital principle that if you fail at something, ask Jesus why. Mat 17:19 (NIV) Then the disciples came to
Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
Jesus, teach me that when I don't know something,
all I have to do is ask. Teach me that this question opened the door for
an incredible answer from You. When I
fail at something, help me not go into guilt, confusion, frustration, or give
up. Show me I will miss out on building a relationship with You. But, help me ask questions so I invite
You into the needs of my life.
4.
Your Goal Is To Move Into Jesus
Through Faith
Mat 17:20 (NIV) He replied, "Because you have so little
faith. I tell you the truth, if you have
faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from
here to there' and it will move. Nothing
will be impossible for you." This is a glimpse into the life in Jesus; this is
what happens to a person who is remaining in Him. It is a life that is built around your faith
in what He can do in you, for you, with you, and through you.
Jesus, help me always keep in mind that this is
where I get faith: Heb 12:2 (NIV) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the
Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before
Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God. Let Your
faith empower me to remain in You, Your words, and Your love. Now, show me how this happens.
5.
Your Goal Is To Make The Supernatural
Swap
Mat 11:28 (NIV) Come to Me (Jesus), all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest. Your problems, your goals, and your relationships
weigh you down with stress, fatigue, pain, and pressure; they dominate your
time, your thoughts, and your life. They
are very personal; and, they cause you to constantly be trying to find the
solutions, answers, and help you need. Jesus is offering you a way out of the trap that these pressures create;
But, don't try to guess, figure out, assume, or imagine what Jesus' way
is!
Jesus, first set me free from basing my life on
self-esteem and self-confidence. Show me that if I have this, I will fail. Teach me that I get my feelings of respect,
love, and value from those things I do for myself. I only feel good about myself when I solve my
own problems. Help me make the trade
for this kind of esteem and confidence so Your help will be welcomed by
me. I will no longer need evaluations
from any other source but You.
1.
Become Willing To Come To Jesus For
The Trade
Come to Me: If you are
willing to only have God-esteem and God-confidence, it is so wonderful
to have Jesus come and carry your pressures and issues for you. For you, it is so great to get a break and
not have to worry or even think about them for a while. Jesus is offering you a way to lay your
burdens on Him; He is inviting you into a relationship that gives you rest; but,
it won't come like you think, imagine, guess, or try to picture.
Jesus, help me be willing to make the trade or
swap. Help me be willing to give up
something in order to get something. In
this case, help me trade my esteem and confidence for an esteem and confidence
that comes from You. Rather than me
getting my esteem and confidence from me being able to solve all my own
problems for myself, help me learn how to accept and appreciate Your help. Show me that if I have the wrong esteem and
confidence, I will never want Your help. I will always be trying to do things for You, rather than
looking to You for what You can do for me.
2.
Become Willing To Make The Trade
Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened: When you get tired enough, weary enough, and
burdened enough, maybe you will give up and accept Jesus' help. These Scriptures are trying to get you to see
the benefits of remaining in Jesus. They are trying to help you want to make the trade. IF you will swap your confidence and esteem
for Jesus' confidence and esteem, the rewards will incredible. Nothing will be impossible for you.
Jesus, teach me that what You are waiting on, before
You do these things with me, to me, for me, and through me is, You are waiting
for me to obey: "Come to Me!" Show
me that because of my God-given free will, You require that I make the first
move. Help it not be an issue of pride;
help it just be an issue of training. The world taught me self-esteem and self-confidence; that may be the
only system I understand and know how to use.
3.
Rest From Your Human
Efforts
As A Part Of The Trade
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened and I
will give you rest: Jesus'
statement here is talking about you doing something so that He will do
something. He is saying that if you
come to Me…I will give you rest. This system of you doing something first before Jesus does something is
a constant, Biblical requirement in your relationship with Him. It is vital that you always find out what it
is He is requiring of you so you can get things from Him.
Jesus,
help me know what You want me to do first. If it is to ask, help me ask so as to invite You into the
situation. If it is to seek, help
me seek so as to grow in my intensity and to aggressively pursue Your
Word, the Bible, for Scriptures that apply to the situation. If it is to knock, help me knock
on the doors of opportunity so I can be at the right place at the right time,
doing and saying the right things to the right people.
4. Resting Keeps You From Leaving
John 15:1-17 is saying that once
you come to Jesus, all you have to do is remain in Him and you
will have the Jesus-life of rest. You will go
from not being able to do anything (John 15:5) to being able to do everything
(Phil 4:13), but while being in rest (Mat 11:28). That is the kind of rest you will receive
from coming and remaining in Jesus. Rest is what helps you relax and stay in Jesus, His love,
and His Words. Anxiety, fear, doubt,
frustration, anger, or dissatisfaction will try to get you to jump up and go do
something on your own.
1. Jesus, help
me see that salvation was me coming to You for rest.
2. Jesus, show
me that justification made it possible for me to remain in You
while learning how to live there in rest rather than
trusting in myself.
3. Jesus, teach
me that sanctification (spiritual growth) became my life of remaining in
You while following Your leadership through rest.
You will go from getting your
esteem in your accomplishments, to feeling good about what you are able to
accomplish through your relationship with Jesus. You will
move your confidence from yourself to a confidence and faith in the love and
power of Jesus. This will give you rest from all
your human efforts; you will always be rested, because you will be using Jesus' strength.
5.
Trade Your Accomplishments For Rest In
Jesus
James 4:1-3 describes the
struggles of the unsaved; Romans 7:15-24 describes the struggles of the new and
untrained Christians. The unsaved, the
new Christians, and the untrained Christians only know how to use their own
efforts to try to handle the issues and responsibilities of life. John 15:1-17 is teaching you a way to rest in
Jesus to handle life's difficulties; and, it shows you how to live the
victorious, successful life in Jesus.
Jesus, rest doesn't sound like a system that would help me win
over difficulties and gain victory. Rest can sound
like inactivity, laziness, and failure to accept my responsibility. However, help me have a new
responsibility. Help it be for me to remain
in You so that nothing will be impossible for me. Help me understand that it
is a way that I would have never thought of before. Teach me that it is a way that involves
God-sized, supernatural, miraculous, and powerful victory. It is a victory for now and in eternity.
This concludes your reading and prayers for this
week.
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Forty-Nine
Can You Rest?
Week Eleven Day
One
How To
Keep Doing The Impossible
1. Ask
Jesus To Help You Lay Down Your Life
John 15:13 (NIV) Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life....Let's say
you decide to give Jesus control over your life. You might assume that once that decision is
made, Jesus takes over and you no longer have a say in the matter. However, that would be you laying down your
life in a general way. Jesus is asking
for a moment-by-moment, issue-by-issue way of laying down your life. This is you deciding to give Jesus control of
each decision and each plan you make as you make it.
Jesus,
help me trade all my own goals, plans, systems, problems, and solutions for
Yours. Help me do what You are asking of
me; help me take on Your life. Help me
realize that to remain in You is to
be where You are, live where You live, and stay where You stay. This can be a very challenging, confusing,
scary, and impossible thing for me; help me trust You.
2. Ask
Jesus To Help You Lay Down Your Life For Your Friends
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his
life for his friends: Before you
can make any decisions on such a matter, you need to understand where Jesus is
coming from. Why does He want control;
what would He do with such control; how would that control effect your life;
and why would you want to give Him that control?
Jesus, Your whole presentation, in John 15:1-17, has
been about one main command. You are
saying: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you (John
15:12)." You aren't interested in
simply having control over my life. You have
the power to TAKE control over it. Show
me You are interested in our relationship. Without You, I won't have the knowledge, understanding, wisdom, or power
to "love each other as I have loved you." I must have You to do this; and, the only way always have You is to remain
in You. Help me have a relationship
with You that will heal all my relationships with myself and others.
3. Ask
Jesus To Show You What It Means To Lay Down Your Life For Your Friends
If you haven't done what it takes
to remain in Jesus, then you can't demonstrate "greater love has no
one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Loving each other is to love each
other as I have loved you. Jesus used a love that was win/win. He made sacrifices; but, He made sacrifices that produces great things
for you, those around you, and for Him. Heb 12:2 (NIV) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of
our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. With Jesus, everyone wins!
Jesus, as I decide to lay down my life for my
friends, help me not do it the way I think it should be done. I would make an incredible number of mistakes
in the process. Help me lay it down with
Your win/win way of doing it. Help me
give You control over this move; help me use the right decisions, plans,
methods, and actions for doing it.
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You Lay Down Your Life Like He Did
Heb 12:2 (NIV) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and
Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured
the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God.
Who
for the joy set before Him: Jesus, You made an incredible sacrifice for me; but,
You also had a joy set before You. Help me realize You are inviting me to lay down my selfish,
self-centered life for a win/win life. But, help me not lay it down through my own efforts. Help me give my selfish, self-centered life
to You; and, let me do it, moment-by-moment and issue-by-issue. Show me how to live the joyous,
win/win life You have to offer.
5.
Ask Jesus To Help You Lay Down One Life For A
Better Life
Suppose you have a job working at
the dump; it has problems, issues, and difficulties. And, you can spend the rest of your life
dealing with them; or, you can get a job that is far better. But, your new job will also have problems,
issues, and difficulties that you will have to deal with. How would it work for you to trade the
dump-life for a better career?
Who for the joy set before Him:
Jesus, John
15:1-17 has been showing me the benefits of remaining in You. All these
benefits are the joy set before me; but, I
am going to still face problems with goal issues, relational issues, and
circumstantial issues. Help me see that
these problems and issues are worth it so I can get the joy set before me.
6.
Ask Jesus To Help You Just Lay It Down
I (Jesus) have told you these things, so that in Me you may
have peace. In this world you will
have trouble. But take heart!
I have overcome the world (John 16:33). You can have trouble working at the dump; or
you can have trouble living a far superior life. There will be sacrifices; but, for a far
greater purpose. You can have trouble
with Jesus or without Him; it's your choice.
Steps To Laying Down
Your Life
DESIRE: Jesus, You have been taking me through this
material so I can feel good about making the trade. Help me want to lay my life down so I can get
a life that You provide. You are waiting
on my God-given free will to decide. You
aren't going to take my old way of life away from me. And, I can't just give it to You in one big
move. I must want to make the trade with
each decision and activity in my day.
STUDY: Jesus, I need to do more than just study this
book and my Bible. Help me look to the
Holy Spirit to explain it to me; help me see that He alone can make it come
alive to me. Help me ASK You to make
each Scripture and Bible principle real to me. Help it make sense to me; and, empower it to flood my heart with
desires, truth, and reality.
PRAY: Jesus, help me target my prayers toward asking
You to give me those things that help me. Help me know what they are, want them, understand what they mean,
appreciate them, know how to get them, and then start living them.
BELIEVE: Jesus, help me look to You for the faith to
believe I will be able to lay down my life for my
friends. Give me the faith for the knowledge
on what to do, for the understanding on how to do it, for the wisdom
on how to apply it, and for the power to live it. It isn't until You give me the faith for
these things that I am able to move on.
LOVE: Jesus, I have to have the right reasons for why
I want and am pursuing the ability to lay down my life for my friends. It seems like laying down my
life for my friends
would automatically be out of
love. But, my heart is very crafty and
devious; I can be trying to do these things out of a noble reason and my heart
can have a hidden agenda. I bring my
heart before You so You can empower it to be motivated by love.
FAITH-ACTION: Jesus, empower me to live on the basis
of having the ability to, moment- by-moment and issue-by-issue, actually
lay down my life for my friends. Help me live out the benefits of Your
teachings and commandments. The Bible
has been written so I can have and live out a new way of life. The whole Book is all about me getting
those things written in it. Help me not
just read it; empower me to take faith-action with You and live it.
THANKFUL: Jesus, once You empower me to live on the
basis of having the ability to, moment- by-moment and issue-by-issue, actually
lay down my life for my friends, once you help me live out the benefits of Your teachings and commandments, once the
Bible has helped me to have and live out a new way of life, once the whole Book
is in the process of me getting those things written in it, and once I
am not just read it, but, You are empowering me to take faith-action with You
and live it, help me to be totally thankful for each and every one of
these breakthroughs.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages Chapter Fifty
What Is It You Are
Wishing For?
Week Eleven Day
Two
How To Get
What You Wish You Had
John 15:1-17 is simply telling
you what all the benefits and requirements are for getting all your prayers
answered through a constant relationship with Jesus, His words, His love, and
His power. The problem isn't with Jesus
and His power to answer your prayers. The problem is in what you ask for. If you remain in Jesus in an appropriate way, your wishes will be
changed into things Jesus will always answer positively. Let Jesus do a quick examination with regards
to those things you find yourself wishing for.
1. Remain
In Jesus And His Words
John 15:7 (NIV) If you remain in Me and My words remain
in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. There are all kinds of Scriptures people use
to try to get their wishes met through praying to Jesus. The problem is found in James 4:3
(NIV): When you ask, you do not receive, because
you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. As you know, Jesus is talking to you about
laying your life down for your friend. That process is able to set your wishes free from wrong motives.
Jesus,
help me establish a relationship with you that is free of wrong motives. I can see that I need to have wishes that are
Biblically based. Help me start praying
for those things that work on my attitudes and character. Help me understand that if I seek first
His (God's) kingdom and His righteousness...all these things will be given
to me as well (Mat 6:33).
John 15:10 (NIV) If you obey My commands, you will remain
in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His
love. You not only have to have prayers that
are Biblically based, they must be love based. In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, it lays out some of the most incredible
spiritual gifts and deeds. And yet, it
shows that there is a way for you to still not have love. Mat 6:1 (NIV) Be careful not to do your
'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your
Father in heaven.
Jesus,
if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only
a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. Jesus, if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries
and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not
love, I am nothing. Jesus, if I
give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have
not love, I gain nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3). Help my wishes be love based. Then You will be willing to start giving me those things I am praying
for.
John 14:15 (NIV) If you love Me, you will obey what I
command. There
are all kinds of Scriptures you can read that would fulfill your Bible-reading
requirements for the day. But, reading
your Bible is only the first step for reading your Bible. Luke 6:46 (NIV) Why do you call Me
(Jesus), 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? Your wishes have to be obedience based. That is why Matthew 7:7 is used. Jesus tells you what happens when you ask,
seek, and knock. Mat
7:7 (NIV) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will
find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Jesus,
help me stop just reading my Bible. Help
me understand that I am reading my Bible so I can get those things I read. Show me that You told me how to live those
things I read in the Bible. Help me read
a certain part of my Bible and then take out time to ask for it, seek
it, and knock on the doors of opportunity for people who are ready for
me to share my breakthroughs with. Help
this change my wishes so You can answer my prayers positively.
Mat 6:33 (NIV) But seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Look over your schedule. Are you mostly
involved in making sure your needs are met? Are you trying to be able to survive by making enough money to pay all
your bills? Do you believe that if you
are going to earn enough money, you are going to have to put a lot of time and
effort into it? If you look back on how
you have spent this last month, you will see that a major amount of time and effort
have been given to this venture. Do you
believe that Jesus has a way for you to take care of these things and
take care of loving other people. Let Him show you how to love each other as He has loved
you.
Giving That Gets
Jesus, move me into Your procedure that only works
in Christianity. Help me start loving each
other as You have loved me. Help me be willing to start giving some of my time, effort, and money to the needs
of others; But, help me not try to guess how to do that. Help me learn how to start creating win/win
situations for everyone who gets involved with me.
This is how Luke 6:38 works:
give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together
and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. But, it has to be under Jesus'
supervision.
This is another way to remain
in Jesus, His words, His love, and obey His commands. Giving your time,
effort, and money under Jesus' supervision is a part of loving each
other as Jesus has loved you. It is also how you pay your bills, how you
have money to buy what you need, and have plenty left over to help others with
their needs. Because it will be given
to you.
Jesus, let my objective be that I am so prospered
and so successful that I am able to reach out to the needs of other people. Keep my goal from being to get rich. That would cause me to "think" I never will
have enough to start sharing with others. If I think I don't have enough to start sharing with others, I will
never experience it being given to me. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together
and running over, being poured into my lap. For with the measure I use, it will be
measured to me. Show me how
to join You in this system.
1 Tim 6:9-10 (NIV) People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish
and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil. Some people, eager
for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many
griefs. This can happen to all of us.
1 Tim 6:11 (NIV) But you, man of God, flee from all this,
and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance
and gentleness. Jesus is inviting you into this new life.
Heb 13:5 (NIV) Keep your lives free from the love of
money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never
will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Finding A Need And Exploiting It
The world starts out with what they want and need; then they come up with a
plan for how they will go about getting them met. They may look over all of your needs, but it will
be to find out how your needs can be used to cause you to give them what
they want. The world exploits your needs
in order for them to be successful in their pursuit of their goals.
Jesus, if I get sick, the world provides hospitals,
doctors, and medicine but at a high cost. If I have a wreck or my car breaks down, they will fix it, but for a lot
of money. These things are so expensive
that I have to get insurance to try to ease the high cost of these
"provisions." Help me see the difference
between the world's "care" and your help.
The world operates on the
principle of supply and demand. The more
desperate your problems, the more it costs to get help. The more you need it, the more they charge
for it. If it is a matter of life and
death, the price will go up to its highest level. This puts people into a slavery of
having to work a lot to pay all their bills. The world loves money and uses people to get it.
Jesus, help me not be motivated by money. Help me be much more compassionate and
serving when the person's need is great. Help me serve them with greater intensity and sensitivity. Let me be willing to make greater sacrifices
for those who are in great need.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages
Chapter Fifty-One
How Do You Get Your
Needs Met?
Week Eleven Day
Three
How To Get
Your Needs Met
1.
Ask Jesus To Help You Accept An Unusual System
John 15:13 (NIV) Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his friends.
Luke 6:38 (NIV) Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together
and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Typically, if you give things away for
free, you end up having less than you started with. But, in God's system, He rewards you for
caring for the needs of other people. He
blesses you, prospers you, fills you with knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and
power that help you be able to care for the needs of more and more people.
Jesus,
It takes faith in Your provisions before I can start focusing on other people's
needs. It's like me trying to keep
myself from drowning and then seeing someone else struggling with the same
problem. Sometimes it seems like I am
just barely able to keep my head above water; but, people around me need my
help. Help me put my life on the line
and go to their rescue. Help me not just
save myself. Help me turn my problems
over to You so I have the emotional, physical, financial, and relational resources
to help others.
2.
Ask Jesus To Help You Get The Process Started
Give, and it will be given to you: Jesus is saying that your struggles will be taken
care of automatically if you go ahead and help that other person who is
struggling to stay above water. You
looked at Matthew 11:28-30 and saw that Jesus will take care of you staying
above water, if you will just give your needs over to Him: "Come to Me, all
you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Mat 11:28)."
Jesus,
I come to You with all my weariness and burdens. Take them and give me rest from them. Let me yield to Your new commandment which
is: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from
Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls
(Mat 11:29)." Help me take
Your yoke upon me so I can fulfill Your command to love
each other as You have loved me. Teach me that my burdens weigh more heavily on me than does the
weight of other people's burdens. Show
me that my life gets easier when I live on the principle of Your yoke is
easy and Your burden is light (Mat 11:30).
3.
Ask Jesus To Help You Be Trained By Him
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me: Jesus can teach you how to love each other as He
has loved you while getting mutual benefits from helping others
with their needs. Jesus wants to teach
you how to: Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together
and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Luke
6:38).
4.
Ask Jesus To Help You Be Trained By Him About Business
•
Jesus, help me take my eyes off of just myself and
start allowing You to give me a way to earn money that will include me working
together with other people.
•
Help me listen to You and allow You to show me a way
for me to get my needs met while helping some other people get their
needs met.
•
Help me yield to Your win/win system and allow You
to show me people You want me to work together with.
•
Help me present this plan to these people so they
can get started being blessed.
•
Empower me to prosper so I can meet many more
needs.
5. Ask
Jesus To Help You Be Trained By Him About Life
In the above prayer, you are obeying
Jesus' command: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you
(John 15:12). In the
above prayer, you are remaining in
Jesus, His words, and His love. In the
above prayer, you are letting Jesus help you bare much fruit.
In the above prayer, you are fulfilling Matthew 25:31-46: Then the King (Jesus) will say to those on
His right, "Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the
kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to
eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked
after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me (Mat 25:34-36)."
Jesus,
in Your way, I don't just give people something
to eat once and walk off feeling like I have fulfilled my duty. I
won't just give them something
to drink, invite them in, cloth them, look after
them, or visit them in prison one time. You and I are building relationships with them. We have a lifestyle of working
together with them. You and I would give
them principles that helped them for the rest of their life here and in their
eternal life.
6.
Pray For A River Of
Resources
Even if you take your prosperity and try to feed the hungry, give drink
to the thirsty, help strangers, clothe those who need it, look after the sick,
and visit those in prison, your resources will still be too limited. But, if you allow Jesus to train you on how
to work together with all these people, then your resources will expand. Jesus, has a way, in the good news
message, to make your resources unlimited. It is a way that you may never think of on your own.
A hungry person will have to be fed for the rest of their life, if you
just feed them. But, if you include them
in earning money together with you, then they are fed for life. 2 Th 3:10 (NIV) For even when we were
with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." It isn't the
end of your responsibility to just do
these things once; and, Jesus isn't just talking about a few people. Jesus wants to teach you how to do these
things in such a way that it is a love relationship for everyone on the whole
planet.
7.
You
Might Pray Something Like This:
Jesus,
I desire to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, help strangers,
clothe those who need it, help the sick, and visit those in prison in such a
way that their needs are constantly being met for the rest of their lives;
and, I want to be able to do this with many people.
Jesus,
I am giving myself over to the study of your Word so You can teach me
how to do these things with multitudes of people for the rest of their
lives.
Jesus,
I am praying and asking You to empower me with knowledge,
understanding, and wisdom for learning how and being able to do these things
with multitudes of people as a new lifestyle so they can live for the
rest of their lives with their needs met.
Jesus,
speak faith into me so I can believe You have given me all I need do
these things with multitudes people as a lifestyle so they can live for
the rest of their lives with their needs met and can start helping others get
their needs met.
Jesus,
help me do these things with multitudes people as a lifestyle for the
rest of their lives on a relationship
basis out of the love God has given me. Help me obey your command: "Love each other as I have loved
you."
Jesus,
join me, empower me, and train me on how to practice taking faith-action
so I can do these things with multitudes people as a lifestyle so
they can live for the rest of their lives with their needs met and can start
helping others get their needs met. And
help me do it as a part of the reality of my life. Show me how to develop win/win situations so
that people's needs get met in a mutually beneficial way for all involved. Help me to learn how to live this way so I
can love others as You have loved me.
Jesus,
once you have started me on this path, help me spend time all during my day
being thankful for You giving me such a wonderful lifestyle and
for being able to share this lifestyle with multitudes of people. Help me thank You for empowering me to
not only be successful in this life, but to use that success to store up
treasure for my eternal life.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages
Chapter Fifty-Two
How Do You Handle
Pressure?
Week Eleven Day
Four
How To Get
The Weight Lifted
A
Heavy Weight Lifted
Mat 11:28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. How does Jesus give you rest when you are still
having to face all those difficulties that come your way all day long? How do you feed the hungry, give drink to the
thirsty, help strangers, clothe those who need it, help the sick, and visit
those in prison as described in Matthew 25:34-40? It all seems like a great burden is being
added to your already burdened life.
You feel your pain, pressure,
drives, desires, goals, and needs more than other people can feel them. You try to feel other people's desires,
problems, and pain; and you try to understand them; but, they never weigh as
much as yours do.
Jesus, I give my pain, pressure, drives, desires,
goals, and needs to You so I will be in a position to help (give to) other
people (Luke 6:38). Help me trust You to
take care of my issues so I will be able to take on other people's pain,
pressure, drives, desires, goals, and needs that aren't so heavy. Show me that when that happens, because I
can't feel as intensely the issues of others, I don't feel the pressure or
suffer as much. Help me see that this is
because I am experiencing Your rest (Matthew 11:28-30).
Give Jesus All Those Things That
Burden You
Mat 11:28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest.
1.
Come to Me: First you come to Jesus with all your needs,
burdens, issues, and struggles.
2.
Come to Me all you who are weary
and burdened: Then you give them all to Him for Him to take care
of. You trust Him and know He is going
to do a good job of solving and taking care of every one of them. You give them to Him one at a time by
presenting each issue with a full description as to what it is and how it is
affecting you.
3. Come to Me all you who are weary and
burdened and I will give you rest: Jesus, after I do that, help me accept the special peace You give me as
rest and joy. Then give me rest
from all the pressures and pain that are coming from being weary and
burdened. Also, give me the power of
Your joy so I can take positive action. Even if my problems are not solved yet, since, I have given them to You,
Your joy assures me that You will take good care of them.
Take From Jesus All Those Burdens That
Trouble Someone Else
Mat 11:29 (NIV) Take My yoke upon you and learn from
Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls.
1. Take
My yoke upon you: The
yoke Jesus is talking about is a harness or wooden crossbar that is put across
the necks of two animals. Ropes or
leather straps are then attached from it to a load for them to pull. Jesus' yoke is for you to take on the issues
of other people's needs and problems while He is taking care of
yours. You are teaming up, partnering,
and remaining in Jesus so you can help everyone who gets involved with
you.
2. Take My yoke upon you and learn
from Me: Jesus,
start teaching me how to help others. Help me open my heart to the issues and problems of others. Since my mind isn't on money or how to
exploit their situation, it is on how I can take care of those things they
need. Your "yoke" or command to me is to
take on the burdens and needs of others. Let this empower me to start coming up with ways for solving them
on a love relationship basis. But,
help me allow You to be the One Who gives me the ways.
Handle People's Burdens Jesus' Way
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart:
Rom 12:6-8 (NIV) We have different gifts, according to the grace
given us.
•
If a man's gift is prophesying, let
him use it in proportion to his faith.
•
If it is serving, let him serve;
•
if it is teaching, let him teach;
•
if it is encouraging, let him
encourage;
•
if it is contributing to the needs of
others, let him give generously;
•
if it is leadership, let him govern
diligently;
•
if it is showing mercy, let him do it
cheerfully.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls: Once you find out where God wants you to start
helping people, you will experience a satisfaction, a feeling of
accomplishment, and a rest that will inspire you. You will probably still be working where you
were. But, as you branch out into this
way of life, it will give everything else you do, meaning and purpose.
Trading For A Key To Christian
Financial Success
Mat 11:30 (NIV) For My yoke is easy and My burden is light:
Once you start working on a job, starting a company,
earning a living, paying your bills, and becoming successful with other people
in mind, this new love-purpose brightens your life. People see you as being a person who really
wants them to succeed. Your life
provides rest for their souls.
Jesus, the powerful principle of Luke 6:38 has started working: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together
and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure I
use, it will be measured to me." All my time, efforts, and
money are going into ventures that produce win/win situations for all
involved. I am loving each other as I
have loved you; I am laying down my life for my friends.
Being
Set Free From A Misunderstanding
Luke 6:38 (NIV) Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together
and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. The selfish person reads this and follows the
principles so they can get rich.
Phil 4:19 (NIV) And my God will meet all your needs according to His
glorious riches in Christ Jesus. The greedy person reads this and prays for all their needs to be
met.
James
4:3 (NIV) When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with
wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Jesus, show me
that because these people's attitudes and character haven't been healed and
transformed by You, their prayers get rejected. Help me keep allowing You to work on my attitudes and character. You are helping me be the person who is
remaining in You, Your Words, and Your love. I am the person who is laying down my life for my friend.
John 15:7 (NIV) If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be given you. Jesus has been getting you ready to qualify
for this type of prayer of a person who is remaining in Him and His words are
remaining in you.
This concludes your reading and prayers for today
Truth/Prayer Pages
Chapter Fifty-Three
How Do You Handle
Living In This World?
Week Eleven Day
Five
How To
Live In The World
John
15:17 (NIV) This is My (Jesus') command: Love each other.
1.
Ask Jesus to Help You Be Able To Live In
It Without Becoming Like It
John 17:14-15 (NIV) I have given them Your word and the
world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I
am of the world. My prayer is not
that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil
one.
Jesus,
help me be in the world without being of
the world. Help me be able to be
surrounded by the teachings, the influence, the pressures, and the temptations
without yielding to them. Protect me
from the evil one so I will not yield to anything he tries to tempt me with.
2. Ask
Jesus to Help You Be As Shrewd As Snakes And As Innocent As Doves
Mat 10:16 (NIV) I am sending you out like sheep among
wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes
and as innocent as doves.
Jesus,
teach me how to be a Christian living in a dog-eat-dog world. If it weren't for You being my Shepherd, I
would be defenseless against all the world is bringing against me. Help me not try to defend myself; help me
have the wisdom of a snake but remain as innocent as a dove. I want to give You the responsibility of
making sure I am protected and safe.
3. Ask Jesus to Help You Know Who
You Are Dealing With
Mat 7:6 (NIV) Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw
your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may
trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Jesus,
teach me who to trust, who to build relationships with, who to do business
with, and who to develop friendships with. Teach me who to listen to, who to be taught Your ways through, who to
allow to be my example, and who to avoid and not listen to a thing they
say.
4.
Ask Jesus To Handle Your Circumstances
Rom 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for
the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Jesus,
I need to have God forcing all my circumstances to be working out for my
good. I ask You to help me see this
verse and the principles in it and realize I have to pray and ask for it. Help me never expect it to come
automatically. Teach me to always ask
for each principle.
5.
Ask Jesus To Help You Get Your Prayers
Answers In A Positive Way
John 15:7 (NIV) If you remain in Me and My words remain in
you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
John 15:16 (NIV) You did not choose Me, but I chose
you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give
you whatever you ask in My name.
Jesus,
I need all that God has to offer; so, that means I need to remain in You, Your words, and Your love. That also means I need to go and bear fruit--fruit that will
last. That means I need to know what it takes to
accomplish these things. That means I
need to "do what it takes" to accomplish these things. That means I need to become proficient in The
Three Keys and the Beatitudes. Help me
to learn them and be empowered to use them.
Ask Jesus to Help You Be Blessed With
These Blessings
Mat 5:3 (NIV) Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus, let me be blessed through You giving
me Your power-attitude of being poor in spirit. Teach me what it all means to be poor in
spirit. Work this power-attitude
into my life in such a way that I inherit the kingdom of heaven as being
mine.
Mat 5:4 (NIV) Blessed are those
who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Jesus, let me be blessed through You giving
me Your power-attitude of being able to mourn. Teach me what it all
means to mourn. Work this
power-attitude into my life in such a way that I am comforted.
Mat 5:5 (NIV) Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Jesus, let me be blessed through You giving
me Your power-attitude of being able to be meek. Teach me what it all
means to be meek. Work this
power-attitude into my life in such a way that I am able to inherit the
earth.
Mat 5:6 (NIV) Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Jesus, let me be blessed through You giving
me Your power-attitude of being able to hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Teach me what it all means to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Work this power-attitude into my life so that
I am able to be filled.
Mat
5:7 (NIV) Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown
mercy.
Jesus, let me be blessed through You giving
me Your power-attitude of being able to be merciful. Teach me what it
all means to be merciful. Work
this power-attitude into my life in such a way that I am able to be shown
mercy.
Mat
5:8 (NIV) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Jesus, let me be blessed through You giving
me Your power-attitude of being able to be pure in heart. Teach me what
it all means to be pure in heart. Work this power-attitude into my life in such a way that I am able to see
God.
Mat 5:9 (NIV) Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Jesus, let me be blessed through You giving me
Your power-attitude of being able to be a peacemaker. Teach me what it
all means to be a peacemaker. Work this power-attitude into my life in such a way that I am able to be
called one of Your sons of God.
Jesus, bless
me by giving me Your
power-attitude of being able to be persecuted because of righteousness.
Teach me what it all means to be persecuted because of righteousness. Work this power-attitude into my life in such
a way that the Kingdom of heaven is mine.
Mat 5:11-12 (NIV) Blessed are you when people insult
you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of
Me. Rejoice and be glad, because
great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.
Jesus, let me be blessed through You giving
me Your power-attitude of being able to rejoice and be glad when people
insult me, persecute me, and falsely say all kinds of evil against me because
of You. Teach me what it all means to have all this happen to me and it create
in me a rejoicing and being glad. Work
this in me so that great is [my] reward in heaven.
Progressing Into Living The
Jesus-Life With Power
You have been being exposed to The Seven Biblical Principles
throughout this Jesus-Life book. They are: desire, study, pray, believe, love,
take faith-action and be thankful. You are now ready to add The Seven
Biblical Principles' toolset to The Three Keys To All Of Christianity's
toolset in a more intense way. After
that, Jesus will be training you how to use the third and final toolset
typically known as The Beatitudes. Which you prayed about above. In
these studies, they are called The Eight Power-Attitudes Of God.
Once Jesus has led you into these
three toolsets, you will have the equipment for getting all those things the
Bible provides for you. However, in the
meantime, The Three Keys To All Christianity will be more than enough to
help you get what you need.
All the following books are dealing
with providing you with more and more of what you need for living the
Jesus-life. This is the main book with
the main goals for your life of living the Jesus-life. From this point on, Jesus will be building on
this book. He will be using it and will
be enhancing it so you have all the Biblical principles for getting everything
He has to offer. Pray and ask Jesus to
help you believe that those things you have been exposed to and prayed for are
resident in your heart, mind, and life.