Week #68 Health

This week's post comes from the "Walking with Christ Every Day" 365 daily devotions for teachers book. I have quite a few friends going through different things, either themselves or their family members...suffering from physical sickness or mental and spiritual downers...so this topic seemed just right.

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Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

Romans 12:1

Are you concerned about your spiritual, physical, or emotional health? If so, there is a timeless source of comfort and assurance that is as near as your next breath. That source of comfort, of course, is God.

God is concerned about every aspect of your life, including your health. And, when you face concerns of any sort--including health-related challenges, God is with you. So trust your medical doctor to do his or her part, and turn to your family and friends for moral, physical, and spiritual support. But don't be afraid to place your ultimate trust in your benevolent Heavenly Father. His healing touch, like His love, endures forever.

A Christian should no more defile his body than a Jew would defile the temple.

Warren Wiersbe

--A Prayer--

Lord, when I am ill or weak or troubled, You heal me. Renew me, Father, and let me trust Your will for my life. Let me welcome Your unending love and Your healing touch, now and forever. Amen.

Week #67 God's Mercy

The following is a passage taken from Max Lucado's Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot pages 69-70
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"During the writing of this chapter, another picture of God's mercy came my way. The bank sent me an overdraft notice on the checking account of one of my daughters. I encourage my college-age girls to monitor their accounts. Even so, they sometimes overspend.

What should I do? Let the bank absorb it? They won't. Send her an angry letter? Admonition might help her later, but it won't satisfy the bank. Phone and tell her to make a deposit? Might as well tell a fish to fly. I know her liquidity. Zero.

Transfer the money from my account to hers? Seemed to be the best option. After all, I had $25.37. I could replenish her account and pay the overdraft fee as well.

Besides, that's my job. Dog't get any ideas. If you're overdrawn, don't call me. My daughter can do something you can't do: she can call me Dad. And since she calls me Dad, I did what dads do. I covered my daughter's mistake.

When I told her she was overdrawn, she said she was sorry. Still, she offered no deposit. She was broke. She had one option. 'Dad, could you...' I interrupted her sentence. 'Honey, I already have.' I met her need before she knew she had one.

Long before you knew you needed grace, your Father did the same. He made the deposit, an ample deposit. 'Christ died for us while we were still sinners' (Rom. 5:8). Before you knew you needed a Savior, you had one. And when you ask him for mercy, he answers, 'I've already given it, dear child. I've alredy given it."

Week #66 Lord, Please Forgive Me...

When you screw up and you know you have screwed up, do you instantly drop down and ask the Lord to forgive you? Or do you like to hide your sins from the Lord and go a long time before bringing the subject up in prayer? Do you ever bring it up?

As Christians we are called to confess our sins and repent (to turn away from sinful behaviors). We may feel guilty over our sins and try to keep them to ourselves and act like nobody will ever know about what we have done...but we are only hurting ourselves. We forget that God knows and sees everything that we do. We can't hide our actions from Him. Knowing this, how do we think we are benefiting ourselves by not confessing our sins to the Lord.You may ask, if God already knows I've sinned, why do I need to confess it to Him? Fair question...by confessing our sins to God and asking for His forgiveness, we show God that we want to live our lives for Him. We want to please Him and we want Him to make us "white as snow." When God forgives us of our sins, He removes them completely from our lives. In His eyes, they never happened. I don't know about you, but that makes me feel good. Fortunately, there is no sin too big to be forgiven. In order to be forgiven, we have to humble ourselves, be courageous, admit our sins to the Lord, and ask Him to forgive us and believe that He will.

So...When you have sinned and you know you have sinned, don't waste time trying to cover your sin up. Go straight to God and ask for His forgiveness. Ask Him to help you stay away from that behavior and to give you the strength to say no if you are presented with the same opportunity again in the future. God wants us to come to Him when we have sinned (and when we haven't). There is more to gain from confessing our sins than from hiding them. Take it to God...He will be waiting.

Week #65 My Favorite Bible Verse Is...

This week...I want the "Bible Study" to be done by you. Nothing hard...just take a minute to tell us what your favorite verse is and provide a short sentence or two about why you chose that particular verse.

This can be your favorite verse of all time or maybe just a verse that has really impacted your life at a particular moment in your life. I'm just looking for something.

There is no particular format...type the verse out, just give the location and let us look it up...whatever works best for you. Also, feel free to provide more than one verse...

Enjoy :)