Victory247

“First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye”

Matthew 7:5 (NLT)

We seem to have the tendency to see flaws in others pretty easily, especially those we don’t like. It can make for enjoyable, yet damaging, conversation if we join forces with someone else who shares the same dislike.

But Jesus is telling us to handle our ability to criticize differently. Our focus needs to be on correcting our own shortcomings. If we are dealing with those, it will help us to be more compassionate and understanding of others. People may even be more compassionate and understanding of us.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, help me to be a person of good character, not a loose cannon of criticism. Thank you that You really love me in spite of my flaws. Give me the strength to gradually change, AND to view others through Your eyes. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves ME… I will love him and show Myself to him”  John 14:21 (NIV)

Our goal isn’t just “sin management“. We shouldn’t be walking around just figuring out ways to avoid sin. Those wrongful actions, thoughts, and words will happened. We then confess and start over. That is what we should do, but that can’t be our focus.

An athlete can enter a game with the attitude of not making a mistake, but they won’t score. A salesman can work all week trying not to be forward or offensive, but he won’t make many sales. A student can go to school and not talk at all. They won’t get a detention, but they won’t make friends with peers or teachers.

Our goal in all these cases should be to learn how to be more effective as we strive to get better. Not sit in a bunker hoping to not mess up anything.

God wants us to learn from Him, “have His commands“. Attempt to do what is right, “obey them“. He wants us to set our focus on living an exciting life while attempting to grow and develop. Taking some chances. Striving to reach the potential that God can fuel us to be and do.

If we do this, He promises to “show Himself ” to us. Our efforts need to go toward knowing Him. Then true fulfillment happens. Sin just gets in the way of that goal. Merely confess and move on to great achievements!

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I want You to be real to me. Help me to focus on knowing You, doing right, and helping others, so that my heart’s eye can see You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power”  Isaiah 40:29 (NASB)

All our lives we are taught to be strong, independently self-sufficient, and know as much as possible so we don’t even appear weak in any way. It’s worse for men. Maybe that’s why a man, in the pre-GPS days, would drive around lost for a long time before asking someone for directions.

This independent self-sufficiency concept seems to be a fine goal in our quest of life. But it doesn’t work. Just try having a close friendship or intimate relationship with a person who has to be right, has unwavering opinions, doesn’t accept change, and a “my way or the highway” personality. It’s a recipe for a miserable social life.

I was in the hospital a lot as a young boy with circulation problems. It took me a long time to learn a valuable lesson about getting a shot. I was always getting shots. I hated shots, and not sure who doesn’t. My mentality was to be as tough as possible and tighten my little butt cheeks (little, back then). The nurse would “stab” me, and leave. It hurt! Finally, a caring nurse told me that if I would just relax and not flex, the needle would easily go in with little pain. It was worth the try, but it was like I was told to relax while a Banchee Indian throws a spear into my backside. Needless to say, it worked. A major breakthrough to my most feared enemy, the needle.

That experience helps me to understand that our natural reflex isn’t always the best way. We need to be strong in our faith, yet relax our self-sufficiency muscle and allow God to come along side us. We have to admit to Him that we need Him to guide and help us. Confess that we don’t have all the answers, and are open to listen to Him and others. The more we let go and allow Him to strengthen us, the more our life, and especially our relationships, will flourish.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I can’t do this alone. Remind me to continually to ask for Your guidance and power to live effectively. Live through me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart”  Colossians 4:2 (NLT)

Devoting to something is a lot more than just doing it. Being devoted to a sport, cause, or person has focused passion behind it.

God knows that prayer, talking to Him, is critical to our fulfillment in life. So He is basically challenging us to be devoted to something that will bless our socks off. It’s like asking us to be devoted to cake; it takes time to make, but it’s so good!

See the “prayer tab” at victory247.org for some prayer suggestions. But the method or the words aren’t the focus. Instead it’s the Person in whom we are communicating.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Heavenly Father, help me to devote myself to prayer. Make the words I say to you very real, not routine. Thank You for wanting to fulfill and complete me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us”  Psalm 103:10,12 (NIV)

Believing and acting on today’s verses can give us a true relief. It’s almost like, in the midst of a diet, eating way too much rich and greasy food one evening. We go to bed feeling bad and bloated, which is exactly how we deserve to feel. Then we hit the Tums or Rolaids for the relief we don’t deserve. But if we eat like that for years, there would be discomfort caused by more severe health issues than what a few Tums can tame.

The word “transgression'” is defined; “a violation of a law, command, or duty”. God says that He will not treat us as that violation deserves if we hand it over to Him in confession. It’s like Tums. But if we don’t allow God to help change our wrongful actions, we will be forgiven, but we would have to live with the damage that this does to our lives.

Comedian Phyllis Diller says that “I’m eighteen years behind in my ironing”. No way can we catch up. God only wants us to make progress and keep striving to go in the right direction.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You that I can keep starting over when I mess up, and that You see me as forgiven of past sins. Thank You that they are REMOVED. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“… a gossip separates close friends”  Proverbs 16:28 (NIV)

I have learned to NOT believe everything that people tell me. I have found that we all tend to bend the truth to our own advantage. Sometimes we can damage someone else’s image to uplift our own. My favorite form of slander is via the prayer request; “Marge, we really need to pray for Bill. He is struggling with his marriage, and that large mortgage is causing them a lot of stress. I can just tell”.

I have worked in schools for many years, and ‘deflection slander’ is commonplace amongst students to get themselves out of trouble. “Mom, I know I got a detention for constantly disrupting class, but the teacher is out of touch, mean, hard to understand, and most of all, gets confused about names and accidentally gives detentions to the wrong students…just like the one I got”. Sounds silly, but parents fall for it and then pass on the harsh comments to others. Before you know it, teachers, coaches and administrators are falsely labeled.

This is why we need to watch the information that we pass on secondhand. We need to watch how we paint the truth to others. We need to watch how we receive information from others; take it with a “grain of salt” and consider the bias of the source. A lot of relationships are damaged and even severed if we don’t heed the warning of today’s verse.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, open my ears to the words I speak and the words of others. Give me the wisdom to know how the “true truth” that is spoken. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults”  Psalm 19:12 (New King James Version)

I learned a medical/first aid concept the hard way. If a cut is infected, or potentially infected, then there is a process to go through to help heal the wound and avoid major complications. Years ago I had a staph infection that was painful. So I applied ice to help with the pain. Big mistake. That caused the infection to go deeper into my body. Well, a hospital stay and one month later, I was able to function almost normally again. A nurse told me in the hospital that if I would have put damp heat on it, I would have probably avoided all these complications. Because the infection is drawn toward the heat.

Recently, I was cut with a dirty piece of metal. It looked ugly, so I applied that lesson I stumbled across years ago. For several nights before going to bed I put a damp heated cloth on the wound followed by anti-bacteria cream and a bandage. Each morning the bandage would have a yellow ooze on it. That was evidence the heat drew the infection to the surface and out of my body.

There are also secret infections in our thinking, habits, actions, words, or perspectives. If we ignore our ‘errors’ and ‘secret faults’, it is like applying ice to the infection. Driving it deeper into our spirit which causes even more serious problems or even death to our personal character, morals, and ethics. On the other hand, bringing these flaws to light by confessing them to God and continually asking Him to help us confront them, is like applying a damp heated cloth. It may take extra time and pain, but so worth it. The infection comes to the surface and leaves our body so that we can experience life to it’s fullest.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, don’t allow me to ignore the “infections” I see in my life. Bring them to the surface and heal me. Thank You for the blessing that will follow if I take the time to apply heat through confession and confronting them with Your strength and insight. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit”  Psalm 147:3,5 (NIV)

We all go through times of ‘heartbreak’ and disappointment. Those are situations that can create loneliness, discouragement and hopelessness. Life can hurt at times. There can be experiences that we run into that make our spirits feel like we’ve been punched right in the nose of our emotions. Other instances may not be as crushing, but still nag away at our being.

The challenge is to not try to escape pain. Instead, we need to confront it. Sure we may have those key people that we can go to for comfort or advice. But going to our all-powerful, yet intimate God is the key to true healing. True growing from any experience. True comfort. ‘His understanding has no limit’!

I recall a time I was hurt deeply by someone. Confused and empty, I decided to go for a car ride with God. That drive was a huge breakthrough for me. I talked a loud to Him, pouring out my heart. Then I listened. Over the years this type of communication with my all-understanding God grew my relationship with Him to another level. I even would have fantastic counseling sessions with Him over dinner at Pizza Hut (I didn’t talk a loud, Mr. Hut and the waitresses would think I flipped).

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, remind me to go to You first with my hurts. Thank You that You completely understand and completely care. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“Therefore we do not lose heart.Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day”  2 Corinthians 4:16-17 (NIV)

When I hit the age of 50, I physically felt really old. Though I am a lot slower when I try to play basketball with my children, my interpersonal interactions are still sharp. My mind forgets more stuff, but there’s more stuff up there to forget. I enjoy life, and I credit that to my close friendship with God. I think about Him everyday, talk to Him as much as possible, and depend on Him continually for advice, direction, and strength.

This close friendship with God is the key to the “inward renewing” in today’s verse. This also puts a different light on why we confess and avoid wrongful actions and words (sin). Confessing is a fast way of maintaining and reaping the benefits of any close friendship, especially our relationship with God.

The late comedian George Burns made the following statement as a 90 year old; “You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old”.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You that walking in Your presence renews my insides. When I stray, remind me to confess and rekindle our friendship. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body”    1 Corinthians 12:15 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul is writing this to a group of people who had a tendency to compare themselves to each other. Imagine that ( I sarcastically state).

If we really look around, we can’t help but to notice that people have so many differences in likes, taste, personality, goals, philosophy, hobbies, strengths, occupations…but at the same time, with a lot of help from the media, we set each other up in a hierarchy of importance.

Is the president of some company a better human than the accountant because he makes more money? Maybe a guy decided to take a lessor job to spend more time with his family. Or the woman who stays home with her kids instead of  holding a position at a major firm.

Some are better at making money, so don’t scoff at them. Maybe certain others are more effective helping people by using their abilities to make more finances.

Anyway, the point is that we need each other to make our society work. God knew that, hence the differences. So, why compare? Enjoy how you were made! Just work on being the best “you”.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You for making me like this. Help me to realize that nobody can be a better “me”. Forgive me for comparing. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.