God's Neighborhood Plan. My husband and I joke that we live in "the slums of Water Valley.
" Starter homes, weedy yards, and porches with peeling paint dot our neighborhood. Across the way, Water Valley shows off million dollar houses and signs warning that the walking paths and fishing ponds are theirs alone. When our children were growing up, two dozen other children their ages lived on the block. They played in our yard and rang the doorbell to ask for bubbles. Now fewer than ten children live in the houses around us, and we know only three of them well. Renters occupy nearly half the houses. The Answer to My Own Prayer? A few years ago my husband, Tony, and I realized our concern for our neighbors had gone dormant.
That night Tony and I decided to pray for the people on our street. When a tornado struck our town, we were grateful that we had only minor damage compared to those who lost their home and possessions. Much of our concern focused on the new couple next door. Be You. “Lord, what about this man?”
(John 21:21) Peter asked Jesus this question when he learned that Jesus had ordained very difficult things for Peter’s future. So Peter wanted to know about John. Was Jesus going to give John a better deal? Jesus responded, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? “What is that to you?” The fallen part of our nature doesn’t look at others and see the glory of imago dei (Genesis 1:27). Oh the tyranny of selfish comparison! “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25)! Your Emotions Are a Gauge, Not a Guide. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13).
Your rest is coming. Sooner than you know you will receive your “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance” (1 Peter 1:4). And when it comes you will understand why your faith was more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7). This is where Peter wants your hope to fully rest. But today is a time for war, not peace. Your battle today will not be against “flesh and blood” but the deceitful forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12) and the deceitfulness of indwelling sin (Hebrews 3:13). God designed your emotions to be gauges, not guides. But because our emotions are wired into our fallen natures as well as into our regenerated natures, sin and Satan have access to them and will use them to try and manipulate us to act faithlessly. God Will Always Give You More Than You Can Handle.
“God will never give you more than you can handle.”
I just heard that on Christian radio the other day. Before that, I heard it in a sermon. It sounds like Gospel truth, doesn’t it? It’s a nice, warm, fuzzy thought. No matter what you are going through, don’t worry! Except it’s not in the Bible. That wouldn’t be such a bad thing, except that the opposite is actually true. God has a habit of giving people more than they can handle. In fact, I’d say that God has to give you more than you can handle. God Will Never Give You More Than You Can Handle…Unless You’re One of These Guys When people say “God will never give you more than you can handle,” they’re misquoting a line from 1 Corinthians. When I read my Bible, I see all kinds of people who were given more than they could handle.
Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Job, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Mary, Martha, Paul. Pastor James MacDonald. Dec 04 2012 Today is not a rehearsal for anything.
Today is your life. It’s who you are and who you’re following and what matters most and where you’re headed…today. The person you will be is the person you are becoming today. So don’t waste it. The challenge you face today is your chance to conquer as Jesus did. The fear you feel today is your chance to be strong in the Lord. The tempest all around is driving you out of the storm and onto your knees. Today matters more than you know. It’s not about others. Today is the day to love the people closest to you and forgive the people furthest from you. Today is the day to embrace the humanity all around—as Jesus would, if He were in your shoes. He asks you to put yesterday behind, because it can’t change today. Five Promises for Your Bible Reading and Prayer. Do you consistently seek God in the word and prayer?
Or have you tried again and again, become discouraged, and given up? We are deep enough into January that this is the story for many us. Resolutions have began to stall. A Surprising Way to Become More Generous.