And He said to them all, "if any man will
come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and
follow Me. " Luke 9:23
Following God every day is our choice! It’s
not about Following God on Wednesdays and Sundays or when we are around
people. For so many years I had that all wrong. One day I woke up and
said this sinless man died to take away MY sins & I worship him only on
Sundays and Wednesdays! I continued to do the things I wanted and make the
Plans that I wanted for my life. It's about a Real Personal Relationship
with Him though. I said I followed the Lord, but He wasn’t my number one, and I
didn’t really know Him personally! The Lord tells us : “'The most
important one [commandment],' answered Jesus. Is this. “Hear O Israel, the Lord, our
God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Mark
12:29-30 Give Him the ownership of the Number 1 in your Life Today!! Don't give the number 2,3,4, or 20th spot!! The Lord also Tells us, “But seek first His Kingdom
and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well." Matthew 6:33. We make a decision every morning to deny ourselves
and Follow God or we make the decision to Follow Ourselves. It’s so easy to get up every morning
& do our own agenda, work, and plan our day...I’m talking about
myself also! Could you imagine what the world would be like if every
day we denied ourselves and took up our Cross Daily like Jesus tells us to do?! When you decide to
follow Christ, It’s not going to be easy! He tells us the cost of
following Him through Scripture. "When Jesus saw the crowd around Him, He gave orders to cross to the other side of the Lake. Then a
teacher of the law came to Him and said, Teacher I will follow you
wherever you go. Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the
air have nest, but the Son of Man, has nowhere to Lay His head.'" Matthew
8:18-20 So what do we do when we feel weak and weary! God makes that
clear too. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will
give you rest. 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. For My yoke
is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30. So, when things get
hard, Go near to God because He promises Rest in Him!
So, what are you doing
with what God has blessed you with?!? Are you using your time, Money,
Talents etc., to further the Kingdom of God. We were faced with that question
just a few months ago. What are we doing? Is this what God has called US
to do?!?! That’s when we decided to totally Give our Lives to God for Him to
use US however He wanted, & when we made ourselves available to the
Lord, He began to use us and constantly show us HIS will for our lives!
WOW! It was tough, and Of course we didn’t WANT to move away from our
family and sell everything! So How did we know that’s what He wanted?
Staying in Close, constant prayer with the Him & then just watching the things
that took place in our lives. The Lord has put so much Peace in our Lives
here in Guatemala. We know that this is 100% what we are called to do. The Peace of the Lord
is awesome!
My prayer for you today is that you will have 100 % peace
when you ask the Lord: Am I doing what YOU want in my life? If the Answer is
NO, I urge you to please stay close to God and be in prayer for what it is He wants for you!! You will be amazed at the Peace you will have in your
life. If you don’t have the Peace of the Lord, then examine your life? I
was just there 2 Years ago doing the same thing! When you decide to Follow Him, you will be
amazed at how He will use you. It doesn’t have to be in a Foreign
Country. It can be in your home, at your church, or in a different State!
So, for those of you who think, "God can never use me because I’m so weak, and I have so many hardships and difficulties in my life!" Look at when God's power
is best! "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the
more gladly about my weakness, in insults, in hardships, in
persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am Weak, then I am Strong!" 2
Corinthians 12:9-10
In Christ Love, Jessica Byrd
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Don't Look at the Whole Sky!
Read Acts 1:1-11
Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus! And in this chapter of Acts, Jesus has been resurrected and is teaching the people and showing Himself and training the disciples to go out and spread the Gospel. For 40 days, he taught and trained on the coming of God's Kingdom. When I read about this, I thought about how Jesus had ministered to the people and to the disciples for three years before He was crucified, and then after He was resurrected, He continued to teach. Jesus is so patient with us isn't He!
Jesus tells them that He would ascend into heaven and then they would receive the Holy Spirit, God's ver presence, to preach and do miracles in POWER. So, Jesus then ascends into heaven, like He said He would do, and the disciples stay there "fixated" on the sky. What do you think they were thinking as they stood there? Maybe they were overwhelmed by everything that had just happened...maybe they were hoping He would come back because they felt unprepared...maybe they were wondering if they really would receive the power they needed. Whatever they were thinking, they couldn't move. After a while, two men came by (who knows if they were angels or not) and snapped them out of it.
As I was reading these verses, I felt that God was telling me a few things I needed to hear.
1. Jesus gives us all something to do on this earth. Actually, He gives us a lot of stuff to do on this earth. Sometimes we know we have to do something because we have the talent to do it...like the talent to teach, sing, draw, etc. Sometimes He tells us to do specific tasks in our daily routines. He could tell us to call someone, visit someone in the hospital, take someone food. And then sometimes He tells us to do things that will change our lives forever...move to Guatemala, change jobs, marry, have kids. A couple of verses to back this up are Psalm 16: 11 "You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" and Jeremiah 29:11 "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" God gives us things to do, but...
2. It is up to us to act on what Jesus tells us to do. After He speaks, we must move, not just stay "fixated" on the sky. Many times, when the things are "small" that He tells us to do, we get busy and just forget to do them or brush them off and say that He didn't really mean for me to do that. When God gives us a talent to do something like sing, many times we just sing in the car (even secular songs) and do not glorify God with our talents at all. Or, with the talent that we have, we bury it and don't let anyone even see the God-given talent that is within us. And eventually, we lose it. And when God tells us to do something that we know will change lives forever, we get overwhelmed and never even move. God trusts us, but we don't trust Him or ourselves. Although in verse 8 in Acts 1 Jesus told them what to do and that the Holy Spirit would help them in power, they didn't move because they (might have been) thinking about the plan of how to "be witnesses to the ends of the earth" when Jesus told them to just start in Jerusalem. They were looking at the whole sky and not just on what Jesus was telling them to do. We do the same things! When God tells us to do something, we start trying to figure out stuff all by ourselves. We don't stay focused on the power the we have in Jesus, and we get overwhelmed thinking about starting that Bible study, for example, and we don't even start because we already feel like failures. Or, we start the Bible study, and only two people come, and we feel like failures because we said to ourselves, 'I'm going to start a Bible study and touch all of Guatemala.'. If God told you to start a Bible study and you started it, aren't you successful because you obeyed God? Yes. Another example. God told us to move to Guatemala. We moved here. But for a LONG time, we felt like big failures as missionaries. Why? We moved to Guatemala like God told us to, so shouldn't we have felt sure and firm in the power of God? Well, we didn't. We felt like failures because we were "fixated on the sky" and not on what God told us to do. God is our refuge and He provides everything we need to do what He has given us to do. There is a song I sing here called "Soy valiente y esforzada", which means "I am Brave and Strengthened". The first verse says, "I'm not giving up. I'm not looking to the right or to the left. My eyes are fixed on Jesus." We start to lose the power that God equips us with when we don't keep our eyes on Him.
Psalm 141:8 "But my eyes are fixed on You, Sovereign Lord; in You I take refuge and 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
3. Finally, we need to be an encouragement to others. Like the two men that reassured the disciples that everything that Jesus said was true, we need to be willing to encourage others when they are struggling. I wonder how long the disciples would have just stood there starring at the sky if those two men wouldn't have come by. Don't get so fixated on your life that you forget to encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ when they are down. Pray for them, but also uplift when God gives you the opportunity to do so.
Here is my encourage for you today...don't lose the blessings of following God and obeying Him because you are overwhelmed by what is around you or because you think you will not make a difference or because you are scared of failure. God has given you something to do. Seek Him and do it.
Brandi
Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus! And in this chapter of Acts, Jesus has been resurrected and is teaching the people and showing Himself and training the disciples to go out and spread the Gospel. For 40 days, he taught and trained on the coming of God's Kingdom. When I read about this, I thought about how Jesus had ministered to the people and to the disciples for three years before He was crucified, and then after He was resurrected, He continued to teach. Jesus is so patient with us isn't He!
Jesus tells them that He would ascend into heaven and then they would receive the Holy Spirit, God's ver presence, to preach and do miracles in POWER. So, Jesus then ascends into heaven, like He said He would do, and the disciples stay there "fixated" on the sky. What do you think they were thinking as they stood there? Maybe they were overwhelmed by everything that had just happened...maybe they were hoping He would come back because they felt unprepared...maybe they were wondering if they really would receive the power they needed. Whatever they were thinking, they couldn't move. After a while, two men came by (who knows if they were angels or not) and snapped them out of it.
As I was reading these verses, I felt that God was telling me a few things I needed to hear.
1. Jesus gives us all something to do on this earth. Actually, He gives us a lot of stuff to do on this earth. Sometimes we know we have to do something because we have the talent to do it...like the talent to teach, sing, draw, etc. Sometimes He tells us to do specific tasks in our daily routines. He could tell us to call someone, visit someone in the hospital, take someone food. And then sometimes He tells us to do things that will change our lives forever...move to Guatemala, change jobs, marry, have kids. A couple of verses to back this up are Psalm 16: 11 "You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" and Jeremiah 29:11 "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" God gives us things to do, but...
2. It is up to us to act on what Jesus tells us to do. After He speaks, we must move, not just stay "fixated" on the sky. Many times, when the things are "small" that He tells us to do, we get busy and just forget to do them or brush them off and say that He didn't really mean for me to do that. When God gives us a talent to do something like sing, many times we just sing in the car (even secular songs) and do not glorify God with our talents at all. Or, with the talent that we have, we bury it and don't let anyone even see the God-given talent that is within us. And eventually, we lose it. And when God tells us to do something that we know will change lives forever, we get overwhelmed and never even move. God trusts us, but we don't trust Him or ourselves. Although in verse 8 in Acts 1 Jesus told them what to do and that the Holy Spirit would help them in power, they didn't move because they (might have been) thinking about the plan of how to "be witnesses to the ends of the earth" when Jesus told them to just start in Jerusalem. They were looking at the whole sky and not just on what Jesus was telling them to do. We do the same things! When God tells us to do something, we start trying to figure out stuff all by ourselves. We don't stay focused on the power the we have in Jesus, and we get overwhelmed thinking about starting that Bible study, for example, and we don't even start because we already feel like failures. Or, we start the Bible study, and only two people come, and we feel like failures because we said to ourselves, 'I'm going to start a Bible study and touch all of Guatemala.'. If God told you to start a Bible study and you started it, aren't you successful because you obeyed God? Yes. Another example. God told us to move to Guatemala. We moved here. But for a LONG time, we felt like big failures as missionaries. Why? We moved to Guatemala like God told us to, so shouldn't we have felt sure and firm in the power of God? Well, we didn't. We felt like failures because we were "fixated on the sky" and not on what God told us to do. God is our refuge and He provides everything we need to do what He has given us to do. There is a song I sing here called "Soy valiente y esforzada", which means "I am Brave and Strengthened". The first verse says, "I'm not giving up. I'm not looking to the right or to the left. My eyes are fixed on Jesus." We start to lose the power that God equips us with when we don't keep our eyes on Him.
Psalm 141:8 "But my eyes are fixed on You, Sovereign Lord; in You I take refuge and 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
3. Finally, we need to be an encouragement to others. Like the two men that reassured the disciples that everything that Jesus said was true, we need to be willing to encourage others when they are struggling. I wonder how long the disciples would have just stood there starring at the sky if those two men wouldn't have come by. Don't get so fixated on your life that you forget to encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ when they are down. Pray for them, but also uplift when God gives you the opportunity to do so.
Here is my encourage for you today...don't lose the blessings of following God and obeying Him because you are overwhelmed by what is around you or because you think you will not make a difference or because you are scared of failure. God has given you something to do. Seek Him and do it.
Brandi
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Personal Decisions Affect Everyone
Daniel 6:19-27 & Joshua 7
The story of Daniel being thrown into the lions' den is a great example of how our decisions affect those around us. Read Daniel 6. What happened to the men that accused Daniel in verses 19 through 27? Why? What happened to their families? Did it mention in those verses anything that the wife and children did wrong? Who decided to throw all of them in the lion's den in the first place?
By answering these questions, I hope we can all see how much our choices affect our families and others around us. King Darius signed a decree out of pride, and the men tried to trap Daniel out of jealousy, but not only King Darius and the jealous men were affected. Innocent people were thrown to the lions because of selfish and ignorant decisions.
In Joshua chapter 7, we also see the powerful effect of personal decisions. Achan took plunder from a city that the Lord allowed the army to conquer, but God had told them not to touch anything. Achan coveted the things he saw, and acted. Because of his sinful choice, the Lord's hand of protection was lifted from Israel's army. They were defeated in battle the next day, just because of the sin that was present among the people. When Joshua cried out to the Lord in panic, God told him to get up and consecrate the people. Achan was killed, along with his family and livestock. His decision affected the people of Israel and his family.
As a wife, every decision I make affects my husband. As a mother, every decision I make affects my children. As a missionary, every decision I make affects the ministry that God has entrusted to us as a family. The list could go on and on, but the fact is when I make sinful decisions, I am not the only one that suffers for the sins I commit. But when I obey God, praise Him, I am not the only one who will reap the blessings. All of those around me are blessed as well, and God’s kingdom is spread.
God, teach us today that every decision we make affect those around us. Show us how to live our lives in obedience to Your Word so our families, friends, co-workers, and even strangers will be blessed for Your glory.
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