Special Expectations

One thing almost everyone wonders about is what God wants us to do. When it comes to expectations of God I always think of the verse Micah 6:8 “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

The first expectation is to act justly. One way you could rephrase this is to do just. Just is being honorable and fair in one’s dealings or actions. In Jeremiah 7:5-7 it says “If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.” God calls us to be fair to other people, not to do wrong to them for any reason. This goes back to the Ten Commandments where it says not to bare false witness.

The next is to love mercy. The parable of the unmerciful servant shows a great description of what mercy is as well as what it is not. It says in Matthew 18:32-34 “32Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.” Jesus had mercy on us when he died for us. Even though we didn’t deserve it, he still did it.

The final thing is to walk humbly with your God. Being humble is putting someone before you. When I hear the word humble I think of kneeling. Matthew 18:4 says “Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” We need to learn that God is always with us through the good and the bad. God always knows what he is doing and has a purpose for everything.

Run for the weak

Too many times selfishness rules among us. Use this devotional to awaken yourself to "Run for the Weak!"

click on link to access the video

http://www.youtube.come/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE

1. Why did the father in this video do so much with his son?

2. Why did he choose to do something as difficult as a triathlons?

3. What difficult thing did The Father do for you? (John 3:16)

4. Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

• What does the Father do for us when we are weak?

• What are we to do when others are weak?

5. Read John 8:1-11

• How did Jesus treat this weak woman?

• What does it teach us about the love we are to show to others?

6. Pray and ask the Lord to put someone "weak" in your path. Someone to run with. Someone to run for.

Some people as just here to annoy you

Don't let them...A word of encouragement from Ruby

Staying Strong

Staying Strong

Sam Evans--13 years old

Staying strong is one of the most important actions you can take in your spiritual walk with God. There are many ways you can stay strong: understanding your Bible, keep a daily prayer journal, going to church, and having good reliable, Christian friends.

I know you have heard ever since you were little that you need to read your Bible everyday, but you also need to understand what you are reading. In Revelation 1:3 is says “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” The word “heed” means to pay attention to or understand. This verse is praising the people who read and understand the Word.

One thing that I have done in the past is keep a prayer journal. I wrote down prayer requests for others as well as my self. One thing I found myself writing down many times is that I would be a light to others around me. Looking back on that journal now I realize that God has answered so many of my prayers and it has encouraged me even more. In Psalms 13:5 it says “I've thrown myself headlong into your arms— I'm celebrating your rescue. I'm singing at the top of my lungs, I'm so full of answered prayers.”

Going to church has been a huge impact on my everyday life. I find myself during the week looking forward to Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. My youth ministers have a wonderful gift on expressing their love for God everywhere they go. They have been and still are great mentors in my life. You might have someone like that at your church. Maybe your preacher, worship leader, elder, children’s minister, ect. My whole church keeps me at a spiritual high and helps through my daily life.

Friends are the people that you will find that have the biggest influence on your life. Job 31:21 says "If I've ever used my strength and influence to take advantage of the unfortunate, Go ahead, break both my arms, cut off all my fingers! The fear of God has kept me from these things— how else could I ever face him?” It is important that your friend and you have a good influence on each other. Start accountability groups with each other, these groups helped me a lot during this past year at school. One famous saying was that friends will either make you or brake you. My youth minister, Mr. Al, always says “in your life you will do 1 of 2 things, you will either take someone with you to heaven or you will take someone with you to hell.”

I cannot stress to you how important it is to stay strong in your spiritual walk. There are many more ways you can stay strong. Deuteronomy 31:6 says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."