Training'N'Righteousness

What do you do when you get angry?  If you got cut off in traffic, can you wave to them and smile?  If someone breaks a promise, can you keep from yelling at them?  Everybody gets angry, but we have a choice of what to do with that anger.  Don't let it control you.  Anger can lead to sin and actions that are not pleasing to God and those you care about.  Channel that energy from anger into something good.  Go work out, get some work done around the house, or help somebody with their groceries.  Take that negative and turn it into a positive. Romans 12:21 ESV           Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Ephesians 4:26-27 ESV          Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

God has done something amazing.  He has forgiven us for not doing what is pleasing to him.  Not only has he forgiven us, but he has given us the ability to forgive each other.  Nobody is perfect and people make mistakes.  Mark 11:25 (NIV) And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Sometimes people will continuely make mistakes, but God still calls us to forgive them if they say they are sorry.  Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV) 21  Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Even if they are not sorry we still need to forgive them.  Forgiveness is not just for the other person, but it is for ourselves as well.  When you don't forgive someone and hold on to their mistakes and wrong...

Philippians 3:12-14 ESV Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. It is amazing what happens when we surrender our life to Christ.  Those things that use to hold us back have no more power over us.  We get a second chance to do what is right and move forward.  Our sins are washed by the blood and are forgotten.  We actually become a new person.  People will see a difference in your attitude and even the way you present yourself.   

1 John 3:6 ESV          No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Once we come to know Jesus and accept him as our savior, we also agree to stop doing the things that are not pleasing to him.  We once were sinners, but now we are saved.  To accept Jesus is to accept the path of righteousness.  I don't want to fall away from doing what is pleasing to Jesus.  I don't want to sin.  I want to grow closer to him.  When I focus on him, I am able to fulfill my purpose to bring happiness and light to those who are lost in the darkness.  

What is the "American Dream"? Is it having nice things? Big house? New car? Well paying job? Is it being married? Having kids? Traveling the world? This is not Jesus' dream for America.  When you chase after these things, you begin to think you are in charge of your life.  You start to identify yourself based on what you have accomplished.  If someone ask you who you are, what do you say?  I'm a mom, I work for XYZ.  You base who you are on what you have and what you have done, but that's not who you are.  Jesus doesn't want you to lose who you are in what you have or done. You are a child of God, and a new creation in Christ.  You are here to testify the greatness of the blood shed for all.  May your actions, words, and identity be lead be Jesus and not by what the world expects from you. Mark 8:34-37 Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s...

Have you ever felt like you can't go on?  And things just don't make sense?  Why do bad things happen to good people?  You know God is always good, and not a respecters of person.  He is good to all.  He is good to the person that believes in him, and he is good to those who don't believe in him.  But there are times in life that seem too hard, and we wonder, "Where is God?"  Well, rest in this promise he made in 1 Corinthians 10:13. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. You might be going through something, but God is with you all the way.  He will guide you and provide you with a way out.  But there is a catch.  You got to follow him to find the way out.  If you are an addict, God will provide a way for you to stop (supporti...

Ephesians 4:29 ESV           Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.   1 Thessalonians 4:18 ESV       Therefore encourage one another with these words.   Psalm 34:13 ESV           Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.   Titus 3:2 ESV   To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.   James 4:11 Living Bible (TLB) Don’t criticize and speak evil about each other, dear brothers. If you do, you will be fighting against God’s law of loving one another, declaring it is wrong. But your job is not to decide whether this law is right or wrong, but to obey it.  Our words c...

What labels do you put on yourself? These are labels the world gives you and the devil whispers in your ear.  Jesus, has a different label for you. You are valuable and worth dying for.  Do not listen to the lies.  You are a child of God, and he laid his life down for you.  He did this so you may have forgiveness, grace, mercy, love and a personal relationship.  Put this name tag on, and don't trade it for any of the others.

Do you remember John 4?  Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink at the well.  She questioned him and why Jesus would even talk to her.  Jesus said " If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water" (John 4:10).  What is Jesus trying to say here? Let's look at this. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that ask you for a drink : What gifts do we receive from God?  Love, mercy, grace, all our needs met, miracles, the list goes on and on.  Jesus is also a gift from God.  We are all brothers and sisters with the same inheritance as Jesus.  Therefore, we are also gifts from God.  This signifies that Jesus is equal to this lady.  He doesn't perceive Himself better than her, which is how she perceives Him. Then the lady goes on to question Jesus again about what He has to put in the well  and tells Him the well is deep.  It h...

6  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. James 1:6-7 NIV In life, there are winds that come into our life.  If we don't stand firm and expect greatness by putting our faith in Jesus, he will not deliver what we expect. What do you expect?  What are your dreams?  They are not too big for him, and they are not out of reach.  God is greater than any barriers here on Earth.  He can move them out of your way and remove them.  He can calm the storms (Matthew 3:35-41). I have a vision of peace and joy.  I expect this peace and joy daily in my life.  The storms and crashing waves are no match for my God.  Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the earth (1 John 4:4)  I believe and stand f...

There are times in my life when something comes up and I react emotionally.  I want to follow my emotions and do what I feel is right.  Often, my emotions are wrong.  I need to learn how to surrender and set my mind on your way, not mine.  What ever will come my way, through fire or pouring rain, I will not be shaken.

Prayer: Lord, please transform me.  Everyday my mind needs to be renewed.  It gets clouded with doubt, fear and worry.  May I trust in you because you are good, all the time.  Remove any doubts and fears that may question you and your will for me.

There are times in our life where we feel like we are sinking.  This reminds me of a parable Jesus told about the two houses.  Don't place your hope into the things of this world or the sand.  That's when you start to sink.  We need to build our faith, our trust and believe in our rock, Jesus.  When those storms come, we will still be standing because we built our life on the rock. Matthew 7:24-27  New International Version (NIV) The Wise and Foolish Builders 24  “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the wi...