Prayers Devotionals

 Christians are always asking God for things. We may ask for a life with our personal issues in order, a life with a better job, a life with our relationships on an even keel, or a life where things in general go better than they have been. We ask for things, but our asking does not always match up well with the greatness and loving kindness of the God that we serve. Perhaps to avoid disappointment, perhaps because we underestimate God, we can at times temper our asking and thinking to what we simply assume to be more realistic levels.   The message of our verses for today, however, encourages us to move beyond the realism of lower expectations. We serve a God who can do far more abundantly than anything we could ever ask or think. He can do more than put our personal life in order---He can cause it to flourish. He can do more than find us a better job---He can find us the job we were made for. He can do more than place our relationships on an even keel---He can take them to new height

 Here are two points to think about. First, Jesus isn’t merely God. Unlike the Father, He is truly God and truly man. He is the God-man. As the God-man, He is a perfect man, who worships, honors, obeys and prays to God the Father. In fact, the incarnate Son is dependent on the Father (John 5:30). How could the Son be dependent if He is God? The apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us a glimpse into the Son’s humiliation:       “Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6–8).   In the incarnation, the Son sets aside His independent authority and heavenly glory. Instead, He humbled Himself by taking on a human nature. It is within this context that one must read the Jesus’ “my God” state

On goodness  There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him. And the higher and mightier it is in the natural order, the more demoniac it will be if it rebels. It’s not out of bad mice or bad fleas you make demons, but out of bad archangels. The false religion of lust is baser than the false religion of mother-love or patriotism or art: but lust is less likely to be made into a religion.   C. S. Lewis  

Amos confronted empty religious practices and emphasized the need for genuine worship and holiness. His message encourages us to examine our hearts to make certain our praise and worship is a heartfelt devotion to God, not just an outward show. Christians should examine their hearts to ensure their intentions are pure and their actions in public worship honor God.   The people were sinning when they thought they were serving God. There was no confession of sin, no brokenness before the Lord – only a religious event that made the participants feel good.     The test of a spiritual experience should not be good feelings, sizeable crowds, or a good time. The real test should be if we are drawn closer to God and if we are becoming more like Christ.   Let us prioritize cultivating a deep and authentic relationship with Him, marked by obedience and righteousness.    https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-is-the-book-of-amos-all-about.html  

C. S. Lewis defined faith as “the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.” Faith is not a spiritual mood or an emotional state. It may influence our emotions, but faith is ultimately a conviction.

 Traditional doctrine points to a sin against God, an act of disobedience, not a sin against the neighbor.   From the moment a creature becomes aware of God as God and of itself as self, the terrible alternative of choosing God or self for the centre is opened to it. This sin is committed daily by young children and ignorant peasants as well as by sophisticated persons, by solitaries no less than by those who live in society: it is the fall in every individual life, and in each day of each individual life, the basic sin behind all particular sins: at this very moment you and I are either committing it, or about to commit it, or repenting it.  C. S. Lewis  

5 Counterfeit Truths of Progressive Christianity What Is Progressive Christianity? The movement called progressive Christianity seeks to redefine what it means to be a Christian. Although it is marketed as “the real thing,” core essential doctrines are abandoned or radically redefined. Progressive Christianity utilizes Scripture, employs Christian vocabulary, and claims to follow the teachings of Jesus. Although it looks, smells, and sounds like the real thing, it ends up being more like fake brie than the historic Christian gospel. At the end of the day, the unifying beliefs of their movement add up to counterfeit truths. 1st Counterfeit Truth of Progressive Christianity: You Are Perfect Just as You Are 2nd Counterfeit Truth of Progressive Christianity: Jesus Didn’t Need to Die on the Cross 3rd Counterfeit Truth of Progressive Christianity: The Resurrection Doesn’t Have to Be Historical to Be Meaningful 4th Counterfeit Truth of Progressive Christianity: God Isn’t That Conc

 If you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, ‘How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or patronize me, or show off?’ The point is that each person’s pride is in competition with everyone else’s pride. Two of a trade never agree.  Now what you want to get clear is that Pride is essentially competitive—is competitive by its very nature— while the other vices are competitive only, so to speak, by accident.  It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.  Nearly all those evils in the world which people put down to greed or selfishness are really far more the result of Pride. C. S. Lewis

  Will I See My Dog in Heaven? Animals are Listed Among the Residents of the New Heaven In two separate descriptions of the New Heaven and New Earth, the Bible mentions that animals will be present. Isaiah 11:11 says, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” As I am doing this post from various ideas from online to put together something on this thought we are about to let our Sophie cross the Rainbow Bridge will it be hard "YES" we lost Rowdy last fall and that was one scary moment I have heard of them passing away that way but it was just like "well you know I have had enough" and he was gone. Yes, I know we all have lost pets and if you agree with me or not it's still a little rough letting go. This argument could go on forever so there are many different ideas and thoughts on this. So, I have grabbed a few