Romans 8:1-2

Romans 8:1-2

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

App- You know that voice in your head that keeps telling you, “Remember that bad thing that you did. Remember that day that you said those things to someone. Remember that day that you used violence to settle things.” That voice that is constantly coming back to you from time to time reminding you of sin that, one is forgiven, and two is in the past. That voice that is there to discourage you to that you would turn away from Christ. That voice that is telling you those things isn’t God or the voice of the Holy Spirit convicting you.  That voice is the devils strongest weapon. Its the weapon that works on us, Christians, every time. Not just Christians, it works on anyone and everyone. the devil uses that weapon of his when he can’t seem to get you to budge from walking with the Lord. he uses that weapon when he wants you to get your eyes off of the Lord. You are forgiven of your sins when you take it to the Lord and ask for His forgiveness because you are unable to move on. When you take your sins to the Father, ask for forgiveness, and He does forgive, that is now in the past and no longer exists in His eyes. He is an amazing God at all times. Espescially when the devil is attacking you left and right and the discouragment is at the hightest tolerence you have. When you hear that voice yelling at your ear of your past, God is there. He has forgiven you and you are set free. Its hard to move on, but look to God. Proverbs 4:26-27, “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil."

Genesis 3:4-5

Genesis 3:4-5

" 'You will not certainly die,' the serpent said to the woman, 'For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' "

App- You know in the movies when there is the little devil on one shoulder and a little angel on the other shoulder, one is contradicting the other. if you really listen to what they are saying, one, the devil, is telling the actor to follow what the flesh is saying, and the angel is telling the actor to follow the righteous acts. I’m sure you have come across a couple of those movies or tv shows. Well if you aren’t sure, one of the movies is “The Emperors New Groove”. Good movie by the way, but not the point. in these situations, its usually the fleshy acts that are committed. the devils voice is heard louder than the angels voice. Has a situation ever happened to you like this? Where you hear Gods voice telling you to do something, but the devils voice is louder. You are tuned into the devils radio station and not Gods. I see this with Eve in Genesis. the devils voice is just slightly louder than Gods voice at this point. God wasn’t present, but Eve even knew that it was wrong to eat the fruit of the tree. She continued on listening to the serpent and was deceived by what could come of it. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Is that what it is to be like God, to know good and evil? For may it be that way, but is that what humans are willing to recognize? I mean, thats where humans fell, is with consuming themselves in evil. Being conformed to the evils of the world. The evils of that serpent that deceived mankind. As we transform ourselves more into the image of Christ and we follow Christs' word, we then can see the differences of right and wrong. As we continue to tune into Gods station and tune off the devils and really listen in on what God is saying to us, we then can make the righteous choices that God is telling us to take. Its not easy to tune into Gods voice. Its difficult to sometimes to see who is speaking to us righteously, God or the devil. You can always tell the difference between the voices because God doesn’t change His word. Gods voice doesn’t change. 

Father, who art in Heaven

how wonderful and amazing you are to me,

how glorious and alive you are,

Lord, I need You! Father, guide me,

use me to glorify you. Father,

You are everything I need. Father,

please forgive me of my lustful, selfish,

and ruthless sins.

Father, I need strength, an emptying of myself

and a filling of You, and the Holy Spirit.

Lord, Thank you for your incredible Love.

Lord, Thank You for Your mercy!

Your Gracious name I pray

Amen! 

Matthew 23:12

"And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

App-When you hear the word humble, how does it make you feel? Or asked the question 'Are you humble before others?' It makes me cringe when I hear something like that, especially if it is directed towards me. Especially when Jesus is asking me, "Hey Dainon, are you being a humble person today? Hey Dainon, humble yourself!" It's the swallowing of the spikey metal ball that expands half way down your throat. It's the piercing of my hands and feet and flesh. It's the two hundred whips to my back, chest and legs. That's the feeling I get when Jesus is telling me to humble myself. It is down right, absolutely, completely and entirely a kick in the butt! It is one of those smacks in the face where God is helping me to get back on His path and to keep pressing forward. "But I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me." Philippians 3:12. I go back to the piece of humble pie that Kelli has made, and I walk up to the pan that the pie is in and immediately take a large swallow of air hoping it be my last before I have to eat that disgusting piece of pie! Then seconds, minutes pass by and I take my first bite of pie and cringing of disgust at the taste of it! I look up to Jesus as He sits in front of me with a look of, "uh huh, there's more, you're not done!" Look back down at the pie again and knowing that this is one of many more to come. Starring at the pie, a thought crosses my mind, almost a prayer, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Remembering, just a moment ago looking up to Jesus, remembering the feeling of humbling myself is like being pierced at my hands and feet. I dig my fork into the pie, take another bite, swallow, say thank you Lord, amen, and move onto the next bite. "Humble yourself!" is not an easy command. If it's anything like you just read, then I understand what you are going through. Especially Christ, He totally understands, and He is the best Teacher! Let's do it together! "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." Philippians 4:13

A couple of the kids in kids club

1 Peter 1:22

"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love if the brethren love one another fervently with a pure heart."

It takes a long time to purify your soul. You can't do it on your own either. You need to accept Christ into your heart and ask for forgiveness of your sins. Although those major sins that you are able to remember immediately are forgiven, you then need to search your heart for those hidden sins. I, myself, from time to time let the power of the Holy Spirit, ask for revealment of those deep hidden sins. The sins that you commit every day and don't realize that you do. Through the eyes of God, every sin is a big deal. But He loves us and is always willing to forgive us.

God calls us to love one another as He has loved us. Romans 12:10, "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.." The love that God has showed me and filled me with has been a blessing from day one. To see His love that He has for me in my everyday life is always enjoyable. To know that there is always someone that loves me, brings me a smile. To have someone to look to for guidance in life is an immediate weight off of my shoulders. To be able to look at Him for purity is such a blessing. 1 John 3:2-3, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." Wow! Right!? And obeying the truth of God brings us to that purity. Loving as He has, obeying as He did, bearing fruit as He does, taking up the interest of others as He did. It's amazing how God can work in us. All the love that He has poured out to me only makes me want to share that love. I can comfortably say that I have a stronger tendency to share that love with one another and be more loving than I was before. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails..." Now replace love with Jesus' name. It makes sense. Now when I replace it with my name, I've got a lot to work on. Gods love is so wonderful that He sent His son to die for us. He is a God of love and forgiveness, not grudges and hatred. James 4:8, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

Acts 2:46-47

"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of the heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

To continue daily with being in the presence of Jesus is a blessing amongst itself. To come together with others in the presence of Christ is always a blessing. Being in Guatemala in the presence of Christ, daily, and all having the same goal, being in one accord. We are all in Guatemala because God called us down here and provided for all of us to be down here. And from the rooms we stay in, room to room, we all wake up every day, so blessed that we get another day. Every meal we are blessed with, we eat with thankfulness and gladness that we get a meal. Thousands of people all around the world don't get to eat today. Don't get a bed to sleep on for tonight. It's so hard not to be thankful for a meal or a bed. So many won't be getting to bath tonight, and it's so hard not to be thankful for a shower, or running water. We are blessed every day by God. Room to room, person to person, we are all so thankful that He has given us a new day everyday, that He has given us food to fill us with, that He has given us life by dying on the cross. How can you not be thankful? We had communion last night, (9/10/15), for our Thursday night service, and it was a different experience. Pastor Donothan is here this week and the experience we had was just different. Just to remember that Jesus put Himself out there. Gave us His body, to be broken, to be beaten, pierced, spit upon, whipped, struck down, you name it, He let it happen. When we broke the bread, He gave His body for us to be reborn. When we drank the wine(grape juice), to remember that He let Himself, for us, be pierced with a crown of thorns, whipped hundreds of times, being beaten till blood spilled out, His hands and feet were nailed with large nails that gave Him an excruciating pain, blood dripping off of His body, off of the nails. And out of all that blood, that cup of wine He passed around to you and me, is remembrance that we are cleansed of all sin. Our sin, minor or major, is all whipped away by His blood that was spilled. When we come together to worship Him, praise Him, together in one accord, do it to glorify Him. Tonight I will pray for thanksgiving of Him being on the cross, for Him giving His life for me for make me whole everyday after all my sin. 

Acts 2:45

"...and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need."

With the goods you withhold in your house, bedroom, car, whatever it may be, do you know someone that is in need of any of your belongings or valuables? Not from a movie, or getting on the highway and someone is standing around with a sign. I mean, someone that is in great need of anything that you pocess. Someone that you probably see everyday. I'm sure there is someone. Can't think it off the top of your head but you may even see them tomorrow. How about, do you have a multiples of any one item? If so, do you really need the other three? Do you have enough shirts in your closet to get you through an entire month without doing laundry? I'm not going to tell you to sell or give away your belongings that you have excess in, but that question you may want to ask yourself is, "do you need all of those items?" It's a hard question, but if you didn't have much to live with, you would be able to answer that question with ease. In acts it talks about it a little differently. The people gathered together, had all things in common, sold their possessions and goods, divided their possessions and goods amongst the ones that were in need. When I first started studying this verse, I felt convicted. As though I know so many people that are in need and I've said no to giving away. Not so much as giving away but just holding onto all my goods. I had no need for so much of it, but yet I still hang onto it all. I felt convicted because I know so many people that are in need and I do nothing about it. I can honestly say that when I get back home, I will be getting rid of a lot of stuff. The conviction I felt from this verse, was different than your daily conviction of sin. As all sin that I'm convicted of hits my heart, this conviction hit me deep, tore a hole dead center, and left a scar. Not a pretty scar either. So much of my belongings are wants, not needs. I am so thankful for all my belongings and I couldn't deny that. The question that keeps hitting me is whether I need all of that stuff? If there is someone I know that needs something, and that something is something that I wanted. I can honestly say that I know many people that have needs and that I can meet those needs with the stuff I have. Tonight I will pray for forgiveness of my selfishness, and pray that when I get home for my ten days in between training and field time that I will make the decisions to give to those in more need than I.