“The Lord’s eyes range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”  2 Chronicles 16:9

Do you want to be a revolutionary for Christ? Do you know how to be one? When people are talking about committed service for Christ they often use phrases like, “Go for it” and “Sold out”. Whatever terms we use, being a revolutionary requires commitment.

When you think about people who are revolutionaries for Christ, who comes to mind? Mother Theresa? Amy Carmichael? They were revolutionaries. Do you think about great figures in history and wonder what you could do that could compare to the legacy they left behind? Do you wonder if you can still be a revolutionary? The answer is yes, you can!

Our daughter, Teresa, is a revolutionary. She has been married for over 30 years. They have two married daughters and four grandchildren. She works full time in a department store. She takes opportunities to share the gospel with her co-workers, she leads Bible Studies and visits and encourages the lonely elderly that come to the store.

She loves the Lord and spends time with Him each day.

God will take you right where you are too. Married? Children? Career? Senior? How will these fit in with God’s plans for you? Yield everything to God – time, family, treasure and talent – and He will show you. When there’s nothing between you and God He can take hold of your life and use you to do things you’ve never dreamed of. Yielding your life – all of it – to God is the first step:

•    Confess all known sin and receive His forgiveness. (John 1:10)

•    By faith ask the Holy Spirit to fill (direct & empower) you.(Ephesians 5:18)

•    Walk by faith – practice spiritual breathing:
http://www.thoughts-about-god.com/meditating/sw_oxygen.htm

A revolutionary for Christ is someone whose heart is totally His, who listens, believes and obeys God implicitly. You can be a revolutionary right where you are. God can use your life in incredible ways.

Question: Are you ready to take that step?

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/05/23/kk_heart-fully-committed-to-him/

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“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:8

The distinguishing mark of a Christian is their confidence in the love of Christ, and the relenting of their hearts to Christ in return. Faith sets its seal on us by enabling us to praise Jesus who “loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) Then love will give in return!

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

In old days, in the earliest time of the Christian religion, this reciprocal love was clearly seen in Jesus’ followers. They were men and women who knew the love of Christ, and rested on it like someone might lean on a trusty cane. The love they felt towards the Lord was not a quiet emotion hidden deep within! They didn’t only speak of their love in private meetings on the first day of the week. When they sang hymns in honor of the crucified savior Jesus Christ, it was with a passion that was so enthusiastic and powerful that it shone through in all their actions, their speech, and even the look in their eyes.

Love to Jesus was a flame which was fueled by the heart of their passion. From there its force burned its way outward to shine brightly into the world. Devotion to the glory of Jesus was the outward sign of all genuine Christians. Due to Christ’s love they risked much, and because of their love to Christ they accomplished much.

And it’s still the same today! We, the children of God, are still ruled in our lives by the power of love. The love of Christ should still cause us to rejoice. Do we feel our hearts lit afire by the Holy Spirit, and then by force of the gratitude they feel as the love of the Savior fills our hearts?

My reader, do you love Him? I urge you not to lay down to sleep tonight before pondering an honest answer to this most important question!

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/05/23/cs_gods-love-in-our-hearts/

Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer

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“I lift up my eyes to the hills from where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord the maker of the heavens and the earth.” Psalms 121:1-2

Sometimes we do not feel like we want to feel.
Sometimes we do not achieve what we want to achieve.
Sometimes things that happen do not make sense.
Sometimes life leads us in directions that are beyond our control.

It is at these times, most of all that we need someone who will quietly understand us and be there to support us

The Lord is saying.…

I want you to know that I am here for you in every way, in every situation
in every perplexity, every turmoil and confusion that you go through, I go through with you, you are not alone, and remember that though things may be difficult now – tomorrow is a new day.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/05/22/jl_tomorrow-is-a-new-day/

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You are precious in His sight. Today… yes, right now!

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)

Father in Heaven,

What wonderful understanding Your word gives me. Today I ask that You would give me strength in my inner being. Thank you that You reach out to strengthen me from Your vast store of riches. Help me to remember that today I have the living Christ dwelling within me. Remind me that this is my Source today in all I need to do or face.

Lord God, help me today to grasp how very much You love me. Help me to see in fresh ways how I am grounded by that love and rooted in it as a sure anchor for my life. Help me to believe it! What a heritage I share with other believers… this wonder of Your equipping love in my life. How we need to remind each other of this strengthening power that we have access to through Your Spirit.

Today when I am tempted to fall into thinking thoughts that drag me down, remind me of this rich love that You pour over me and into my life. Remind me, by Your Spirit, that this love is wider and longer and higher and deeper than I can ever imagine. Let me feel wrapped and encased in that love today. Help me to grasp this truth when I am tempted to feel less because of my own limited abilities or resources or circumstances.

Father, thank you that growing in this understanding of the riches of Your love will fill me up with a fullness and a completeness that can come from nothing else. Set me on a journey today to reply on You in every detail of my life. Let me live in the fullness of Your love today like never before. I ask this in the powerful name of Jesus with thanksgiving. Amen.

Question: Do you find it easy or hard to accept how much God loves you? How does His love change the way you face the day?

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/05/22/gr_you-are-loved/

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When a boy seems to be having an attack of conscience, however small the twinge, his mother draws from her own experience to suggest a cure.

Although I was not sure that his teacher felt she needed it, I felt my ten-year-old did and so I suggested that he apologize to her.

“I don’t like apologizing,” Kent objected, his head down.  “It feels too stupid.”

“It’s supposed to feel stupid.  When you feel guilty and ashamed at the same time it can’t feel comfortable, not when you see that you were wrong.”  I could have added that a sincere apology has a unique effect to self-pride—it elevates while it humbles.  But I hoped he would find this out for himself.

When he left the house I was not at all sure he was convinced that he should apologize.  I had not said he had to.

That evening when he came home, however, I knew instantly that he had.

“I talked to her and said I was sorry.”

“Feel better?”

“Yes.” A light toss of his head and a quick grin on his face told me that he was a bit embarrassed, but happy.

“See?”  I couldn’t help but add.  The look he gave me as he sailed out of the room said he got the message.

It has been said that the three most difficult words in the English language are, “I am sorry.”  It hurts to apologize and we want to put it off, temporarily or even permanently.

But the law God has built within us makes this procedure a boomerang. We succeed in losing the one thing we desperately try to preserve; self-esteem.

The habitual compounding of this sort of behavior often succeeds in another direction.  It makes us more prone to actions or words for which we need to apologize.

How many good people have nursed a grudge for years, and how many good churches have been stunted in growth and blessing because someone has been too proud ask for forgiveness, or even to go half way?

These three little words become amazingly comfortable when spoken in genuine sincerity.  More than one revival has found its seeds in a simple, “I am sorry.”

Even here the Scriptural principle holds.  “It is more blessed to give than to receive!”

“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man has a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”
Colossians 3:13

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/05/21/mh_three-uncomfortable-words/

From: Honey and Salt, Wine Press Publishing
To order the book: http://www.winepressbooks.com

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