Thought for the day...

Who will claim today's verse as their own declaration? I'll start, my house will serve the LORD.

May 13, 2019
Verse of the Day
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:15

 

I think this devotion sums up the spirit of FHC members in general and several in particular, you know who you are.

Leave a Legacy of Hospitality
By Rick Warren — May 11, 2019


“Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24 NCV).

Awesome families teach their kids that they’re not the center of the universe. They teach their kids that God made them and shaped them for a mission. They model dedication, service, generosity, and prayer. Average families don’t do those things. Awesome families do.

I am the man that I am today first of all because of my parents. They instilled in me certain values to care about other people.

My parents were very, very poor, but they both had the gift of hospitality. They loved to give to others even though they didn’t have much. We lived out in the country, and my dad would plant an acre garden with all kinds of vegetables. There was no way our family could eat all that food, but he did it just so he could give it away, because he didn’t have any money to give away. So we always planted more and then gave it away to help other people who were in need.

Our home was constantly filled with other people. If people were in pain, they were at our house. If they were on the road, they were at our house. If they were going through a conflict, they were at our house. If they were a well-known Christian leader coming through town, they were at our house. One day my dad added up how many meals my mom had cooked for guests in our home in one year. It was over a thousand meals! I grew up learning an attitude of “give your life away” and that it’s not about me. It’s about helping other people.

That’s what awesome families do. They teach each other to show love and to do good deeds. Good deeds are called ministry. They are called service.

A good example of this is Cornelius’ family in the book of Acts: “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly” (Acts 10:2 NIV).

What a great legacy! Wouldn’t you like to have people writing that about you and your family one day?

Whether you have children or not, God wants you to leave a legacy like that. You’ll find people younger in age—or younger in the faith—all around you. Will you take the time to help others become what God has made them to be? Would you help them discover God’s mission for their life?

 

THE BIG PICTURE

This is the first verse in the Bible. Note the emphasis: “In the beginning God.” Everything begins and ends with our creator God. All of human history and all of the future of the human race is about God and his story. It begins and ends with him.
We can easily forget this truth as we live day-to-day. Confident — and let’s face it, sometimes proud — of the power and influence of our decisions, we can think we control our own destiny and can know what will happen in the future. We can forget we are finite, limited, mortal. Only God is sovereign. He alone oversees all human events.
A group of men is playing a game of poker in a restaurant back room. As one man looks at his cards, he knows he has an unbeatable hand and will be a rich man when he lays down those cards and wins the huge pot in the center of the table. Unknown to that man, however, a fighter pilot in training has just ejected from his plane, and the plane is hurtling toward that restaurant. The man will not even get to play the hand.
Like the poker player, we have the illusion of control. But our knowledge is limited, narrow. Only God has the larger perspective; only God is in control. We don’t see all the scenarios; we don’t understand all the factors; we don’t know all the facts.
Just as in Genesis 1, true life begins when we humbly acknowledge God’s sovereign place in the world and in our lives.

Creator God, Sovereign Lord, I humbly submit myself to you . . .

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 NKJV

 

I just finished day 4 of the @YouVersion plan 'NIV Once-A-Day Bible for Men'. Check it out here:
NIV Once-A-Day Bible for Men

 

My humble thought of the day is......

I am because He is .

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

Amen, thanks for sharing. Hope to see more.

 

KEEP KNOCKING

As Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer, he drops in this marvelous nugget of truth, using a metaphor that his disciples (and we) can easily understand — the importance of seeking, asking, and knocking.
That’s how the process works in everyday life. If we want something, we don’t expect it to be dropped in our laps; instead we go after it. Yet in our relationship with God, we can easily become passive and passé. Here Jesus is emphasizing the fact that God is always listening and will respond to our requests and pleas — but we need to take the initiative.
Often we get too busy to pray. Sometimes we become so burdened and preoccupied with our problems that we forget to talk with our heavenly Father. We may even feel as though our needs are small and insignificant and that God would not be concerned with them. But Jesus says to persist in our prayers — asking, seeking, and knocking.
The other half of this teaching is just as exciting. Not only is God listening to our prayers, but he will answer them. If we ask, we will receive. If we seek answers to our questions, God will reveal them to us. If a door blocks our way, God will open it. Of course, God’s answers won’t always be what we expect — we shouldn’t presume to make demands. But he will respond. He loves us that much.
Persist in prayer. Talk to your heavenly Father. He wants to hear from you. Ask, seek, and knock.

I want to talk with you, Lord, about . . .

 

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Luke 11:9‭-‬10 NKJV

 

Pray for those affected by a natural disaster, sickness, or tragedy. May they look to God above and His Word for provision, strength, comfort, and healing, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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- if714

 

May 15, 2019
Verse of the Day
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

ONE WAY OUT

When the disciples asked how they would get to the Father and his “house,” Jesus answered that he was the only way.
This fact that Jesus is the only way to heaven isn’t popular in our age of the “it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere” and “all faiths lead to the same destination” way of thinking. People argue that having just one way is too narrow and limiting. “How can anyone claim to be the only way to God?” they assert.
In reality, Jesus’ way is wide enough for all who believe. Instead of arguing and worrying about how limited it sounds, people should be grateful that there actually is one way to God and eternal life.
When coming to a precipice and wishing to get to the other side of the great divide, we don’t pout and demand that a bridge be in place on the exact spot where we stand. Instead, we travel to the bridge, the only bridge, a few miles away, grateful that a way across has been provided.
Jesus is the way — follow him. Jesus is truth — believe him. Jesus is life — live in him. Regardless of the claims of cults, pop religion, or wishful thinking, no other bridge to the Father and his house exists.
Thank God he has provided the Way!

Jesus, you are . . .

 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6 NKJV

 

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.” Father, encourage the saints to be salt and light in their communities, so that many will see the goodness of our God. Amen.
-Psalm 40:3
http://www.if714.org/?p=25116

 

May 16, 2019
Verse of the Day
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6

 

When You Lose the Feeling of Love, Choose the Action of Loving

BY RICK WARREN — MAY 14, 2019

1.6K


“Trust God all the time. Tell him all your problems, because God is our protection” (Psalm 62:8 NCV).


Today’s devotional is by Tom Holladay, teaching pastor at Saddleback Church.


What do you do with the feelings that come from disappointment in a relationship? You can’t stuff them away, because they will just pop out somewhere else.

You need to trust God and tell him all your problems because he is your protection.

Tell him you are angry or disappointed or that you feel nothing. In those times when you feel nothing, when you feel like you’ve lost the love, go to God and tell him that—and then trust him. Hebrews 10:23 teaches us, “We can trust God to do what he promised”(NCV). And he promises to pour his love into our hearts.

Love is a feeling, but it is also an action. And when you lose the feeling to love someone, move forward with the action of lovingthem, and that will help you reclaim your feelings of love. Is this hypocritical? No, it’s being human. We all lose the feeling to love at sometime. It usually happens when we decide to live with a problem instead of talking it out or openly facing it.

Start by telling God your feelings about the problem. From there, he can begin to give you the strength to talk to your loved one about it. As you do this, God will begin to restore your feeling of love for that person. He does what Lamentations 5:21 says: “Turn us around and bring us back to you again! That is our only hope! Give us back the joys we used to have!” (TLB).

That is my prayer for you. Whether you are a husband or a wife who needs to let go of a disappointment or misunderstanding or if you need to accept the differences you have with a close friend—I pray that God will begin to bring back your joy. But it’s a process, and it begins when you decide to trust God and tell him your feelings.