Memory Verse Challenge: Week 15

Good Monday morning to you - I hope and pray you will have a blessed week.

This week's verse is from Psalm and it reminds us that God is close to us in our troubles and in our pain.  He is not some distant being removed from us by space and feeling.  He hurts when we hurt and He will pull us through our pain and deliver us.  Remember - in week 8 we learned that God is the Father of compassion.

See more about the Memory Verse Challenge here.
See the complete list of Challenge verses here.

Sunday Blogvotional: United We Stand

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 1 Corinthians 1:10

Have you ever tried to fight a battle by yourself?  What about a spiritual battle?  It's real easy for the devil and his minions to knock you down when you're standing alone.  But what if you were standing arm in arm with fellow believers (fellow warriors)?  Wouldn't the devil have a much harder time knocking you down? Wouldn't the fight be less about you – less like a personal attack and more about an attack against God? 

When we as Christians are bent on being separating ourselves from other Christians simply because we see a few things differently, we weaken our team (Team Christians) as well as our fighting power.  The more we recognize our fight is not against each other but against the evil one, we’ll align ourselves together.  And when we’re linked together, arm in arm, we can make a more powerful stand against our real enemies (the principalities of darkness). 

Ask yourself what team you would rather be on?   Do you want to get caught up in arguments that separate your from other believers or do you want to be on a strong, unified team?  United we stand - alone we fall.

Encouragement for the week:  Encourage yourself and others to stop fighting each other and start fighting the devil.  Don’t get caught up in the drama of “this church against that church” or divisions within your own church.  The devil is surely in those.  Fight back with love, patience, humility and unity.  The devil won't know what hit him!

Memory Verse Challenge: Week 14

I took it easy on you last week with a short verse.  This week's is longer because it's not one you can really cut in half.  Good news is that you've probably said parts of it many times so memorizing it should be a piece of cake:-)

This verse reminds us that we are not defeated nor will we ever be defeated.  Additionally - God's love is not fleeting.  He will never give up on us.  The devil would like us to believe that when we sin heaven is no longer an option for us or that God hates us.  The truth is right here in God's word - nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Planting these truths in our hearts and minds is what this memory verse challenge is all about.  I hope you are finding it useful.

See more about the Memory Verse Challenge here.
See the complete list of Challenge verses here.

Sunday Blogvotional: Weakened By The Storm

Imagine you're a fruit tree in the forest of humanity.  In general you're strong, healthy and produce a lot of delicious fruit.  Yet there are times when you barely survive the storms that come your way.  The harsh weather and hurricane winds take their toll on you.  Some of your branches get damaged and weakened.  And like in life when our weaknesses tend to steal our focus and our energy - your weakened branches are stealing nutrients from your healthy parts.  They're fighting for survival while slowly killing you and your spirit. 

Sounds depressing if that's all there was to the story.  But we have a Creator that's bigger than the storms and a Father who is faithful to nurture us.  God understands that we'll never be as fruitful as we can be until we get rid of our "baggage" - our weak branches.  And God is gracious.  He gets rid of our unhealthy branches and prunes what's left.  It's painful but a little pain is necessary to make us stronger in the end.

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.
John 15:2

Encouragement for the week:  A pruned tree is not only made stronger by the pruner but also gets its shape from Him as well.  Don't fight God when you sense Him pruning you.  Instead - thank Him for using the opportunity to shape you into something beautiful and strong. 

Memory Verse Challenge: Week 13

(Sorry for the delay in getting this week's verse out.  I've been having some computer issues.)

This week's verse is one you probably already know well.  It offers great encouragement and it's a good verse to have in your memory banks to remind you of your significance to God.

 See more about the Memory Verse Challenge here.
See the complete list of Challenge verses here.