ASK! WITH RIGHT MOTIVES  Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. —Ephesians 3:20-21  I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. —Psalm 9:1             We cannot out ask or out think God. He can “do far more abundantly than all that we ask” and He can “do far more abundantly than all that we think.” The problem typically is “You do not have…

THE DEAD MADE ALIVE!  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. —Ephesians 1:13-14  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body…

SET FREE!  For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. —Galatians 5:1  You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? —Galatians 5:7  For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” —Galatians 5:13-14              We have been set free in Jesus— “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…

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE IN JESUS!  DON’T BE SIDE-TRACKED BY ANYBODY!  O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?  —Galatians 3:1  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. —Galatians 4:7  Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. —Galatians 4:28              Here we learn it is possible for the believer to be “bewitched.”  That is, to have someone exercising evil power over the believer or to captivate them or to put someone under a spell so they no longer can think/act according to reason or to bring evil on one by feigned praise or an evil eye, to charm,…

PREPARATION FOR THE DAY  Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. —Psalm 5:1-3  The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. —Isaiah 50:4  When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary…

FAITHFULNESS IN THE FACE OF SUFFERING   Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many…

YOU FREELY RECEIVED, NOW FREELY GIVE!  The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and…

JESUS’ POVERTY WAS INTENTIONAL SO WE COULD BE RICH!  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. —II Corinthians 8:9              The “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is awesome!   It is staggering to the mind to think about and try to grasp. Jesus had it all in glory— all that is good, holy, truthful and right. He was in that glorious place where there is no wrong, no conflict and no problems. Yet because of His favor toward us, a favor that we did not…

THE BLESSED AND THE CURSED  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD…

DON’T LOSE HEART— KEEP THE ETERNAL FOCUS!  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. —II Corinthians 4:16-18              Don’t lose heart! Keep your focus! Grow in Jesus as you are being renewed day by day in Your inner self. This happens as we spend time with our…