Mood:  irritated

S.

O.

Paul says that he is advising, in a yielding way and as a right or privalage...as a point in an argument. He says that his statement isn't an order from God. He says he desires, by choice, that all humans existed in the manner that HE does, with the exception that each person pssiss his/her own seperate deliverances and favors from God.

A.

Paul makes me angry! His pride shows in chapter 7. Is this godly? He wants every human being to be like him in being 'single'. He only SUGGESTS by his own OPINION, that they do. It's NOT an order from God. He does say that he understand each persons individual gifts of deliverance and favor from God. SO WHY DID HE EVEN WRITE THIS FOR THE CHURCH IF IT'S OF HIS OWN OPINION? Does this show that Paul was hurt by a woman and so shuns marriage? What exactly is he telling us...that marriage makes it harder to be intimate with Jesus?

P.

Father, show me why this angers me; why this stirs up my spirit. What is Your Spirit trying to sift out of me that doesn't belong. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear what You are trying to teach me in this scripture, Father. Help me to understand it clearly so that I can apply it to my life!

Mood:  bright

S.

1 Corinthians 6:11, 12 (NKJ) And such were some of you.(fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners) But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

O.

We were given a new, purified soul the very moment we gave our hearts to Jesus. We were given the same fixed position of innocence and freedom that Jesus has. We were given everything you can think of that is associated with the name 'Jesus'...and all it brings to mind; His character and authority. We were given the very Soul/Spirit that God holds; the nature of God.

Because of this, everything on this earth is 'right' for us.

The EXCEPTION? Those things that aren't for our spirit/soul's advantage. Those things that don't contribute to the good of our spirit/soul. Those things that could bring us under 'foreign' control or power. (and it's under OUR control what power/control we give away)

A.

I have Jesus and all His character and authority in me. Because of this, I also have the authority over what may try to control me. I can give away my power/authority to people or things. Or I can give my power/authority to Jesus in complete surrender to HIS power/authority.

I can let peoples oppinions of me rule my life, or let Jesus' oppinion rule.

I can give power to food, or I can take control of that.

 I can give power to many things or people, but that's my choice.

When I 'see' this, I get the control. When I understand the ability I have in who or what I give power to, then I can choose to take or give that power to the proper Person, Jesus.

Today, THIS is what I choose: to give Jesus all control, authority and power over my life.

P.

Jesus, take the wheel! I give You, and You alone, the control of my life. I choose to see what authority I have given away and I take it back. I give YOU that power, in Your name, authority and character!

Mood:  accident prone

S.

Psalm 69:5,6 (NKJ)  O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You. Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.

O.& A.

God knows my lack of good sense, my lack of caution and wisdom. He knows the times I act foolish (dispising wisdom, mocking when I am guilty, when I am quarrelsome). God knows my faults, my guilt, my offenses and wrong-doings. They aren't secreted from Him by my actions or words.

And so I ask Him that these traits in me not cause others, who seek Him, to fall or trip up. I ask Him to not let these be confused or insulted by seeing these things in me.

P.

Father, You see all of me. You see my foolishness. When I am like this, I ask that Your wisdom would cause others not to see this in me so as to not cause them to stumble in their faith because of me. But the thing I most ask is that You cause me to have the wisdom needed to overcome my foolishness, Father. Grow me up, I pray!

Mood:  not sure

S.

1 Corinthians 4:9 (NKJ)  For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men

O.

Paul says that God shows off His 'set apart delegates' as if at the 'lowest rank' or 'grade of worth', and in that manner, as 'humans doomed to death'. This is how God's people are displayed by God to the world. He puts His people 'on the world's stage' as a place for public show and to examined and to be 'made sport of'. Here is where the world examines God's people...in full view and under a magnifying glass. God's people are examined by both angelic messengers and by human beings.

Why? To show that they ARE God's people; to dispell the 'I-did-it-myself-pride' in the people of God while at the same time to reveal, under close examination, that God dwells in their lives...every day and in all ways.

A.

God DOES put me on display. He makes me feel as if I am being examined by unbelievers so that my pride will be dispelled. I stand on the 'stage of life' under the worlds magnifying glass, my everyday life being closely watched and judged. I am to be God's proof that a Believer is free and full of joy and hope in every life situation. I am scrutinized and made fun of on this 'stage'. I am seen as a human that will still die, like everyone else. And yet I am to not fear human death. Both humans and God's angels are watching me.

Do I pass the test? Does my life reflect Jesus? Is my pride showing? Am I humble or prideful? Do I stand or do I coware? Do I stand in the light of Truth or do I appear artificial?

Many questions come from this scripture; self-examination of me. This scripture raises up a time to reflect and take another look at how I 'appear' to the world.

P.

Father, I pray that I would show YOU to the world as You would have me be. Help me to be more like Jesus on the stage of this world. Give me legs to stand, but a humble heart. I pray that I would be totally real, and totally full of You, Lord!

Mood:  lazy

S.

Psalm 37:4-6 (NKJ) Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

O.

When I am pliable, delicate toward God, He will fill up my inner man, my soul, with all that I lacked within me from the beginning. All that my inner man desires will be made full.

A.

Picturing myself as a mound of pliable dough, I can only be molded into a loaf of usable bread if I am soft and fragile. God is the Bread-Maker. He knows I desire to become 'bread' because that was why I became 'dough' in the first place. Only HE can make me the completed product. And only I can allow Him to complete me. This fullfills the desires of my inner self, that which I was born longing for deep within me. This is the only way that I can be completely satisfied and the 'Jesus shaped hole' within my spirit be filled up. Only by being 'delicate' can I be molded into full completion; full purpose.

P.

Father, You alone know what I need to be fully satisfied within and completed. Keep me always pliable, Lord, and with no pride, so that my choice will always be Your hands kneeding me into the completed product; Your full purpose for me.

Mood:  quizzical

S.

1 Corinthians 2:9,10 (NKJ) But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

O.

God's very own Soul searchs us who love Him, to find the secrets and mysteries that are hidden there by God and for God. God's Spirit seeks and investigates what isn't obvious within us; what is not on the surface; the things that are beyond the obvious.

A.

I believe that when Holy Spirit seeks out what is inside of us, that we know it! Our spirit feels Holy Spirit stirring up the exploration within us; our curiousity. When Holy Spirit stirs us like this, we hunger for the things of God; His hidden mysterys. And through our spirit asking Holy Spirit inner questions, He reveals God's answers. Uncovered to us is the mysterys of God not seen or understood by the unsaved man. Holy Spirit opens our understanding to the depths and heights of God.

P.

Stir up within me, Holy Spirit, the curiousity I need to help me see what God has hidden within for His use. Help me to understand more and more what was previously hidden.

Mood:  accident prone

S.

Psalm 40:1-3 (NKJ) 1 I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry.2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.3 He has put a new song in my mouth Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord.

O.

When I cry to God for freedom from my troubles, and then bind hope to 'waiting on God', God bends down and extends Himself to me. He gives me his attention and interest. He then mentally stirs me up and causes my thoughts to raise up out of the destruction of my 'thought-prison'; raises my thoughts up out of the intoxication and distraction of these 'sticky' thoughts of calamity. He then establishes each of my steps in my 'walk of life', fastening them in His securtiy (His fortress of protection). He fastens my steps to go straight forward, to prosper and to be happy. In this place of walking, He renews, repairs and rebuilds my 'joy of the journey'. He reveals the 'door'; the way to shine for Him and boast in Him. It is the 'door' of  adoration and thanksgiving to Him. When I walk through that 'door of praise' to God, many will see the shine that God puts on me, inspiring them to reverence  God and to seek God's refuge.

A.

Binding waiting with hope, causes God to listen to my cries of help! Many times I've been in this place of waiting and hopeing! But in this place, He teaches me many things; patience, obedience, longsuffering, praise, thanksgiving, watching and even joy. I know this is all part of learning to walk in 'the joy of the journey'. How can we know the joy of life if we only have good times? There would be no difference in joy and sorrow. Joy stands out in our life when we go through suffering. Then we learn to WATCH for God's joys in each little step in our lives, learning to identify what we need to be thankful for, and to give God the credit. I learn to turn my thoughts VERTICLE...out of my 'thought prison'. The results: a straight-forward walk of life, into 'the joy of the journey'.

P.

Father, I praise You for the troubles and sorrows in  my life. Without them, You couldn't teach me all that I need to know about You in my life. Thank You that YOU are soverign...I trust You, Lord, in all the joys and in all the troubles and trials! You take evil and turn it to good. And it's always in order that we can shine for You!

Mood:  a-ok

S.

Galations 6:2,3(NKJ) Bear one anothers burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

O.

Our reputation isn't certain when it comes to others 'seeing who we are in Christ'. If we think it is, than we are 'delusional'. We need to complete the faith, the moral instruction and especially, the love of Jesus. We can only complete these in ourselves by USING them. We use them by walking side by side with other Believers, sharing, equally, the troubles that they carry. This truly shows the Jesus inside of us.

A.

Who I am in Jesus isn't done revolving yet. It never will be, but I need to continue walking through my life using all He has taught me in order to become more like Him. If I think I'm 'getting close' to having the reputation Jesus had, I'm delusional...I'm misleading my mind.

Supporting other Believers is one way to become more like Jesus...and a VERY important one. Walking through life, standing side by side with other Believers, means sharing their troubles...EQUALLY, and as if they were my own. Using what Jesus has taught us, especially His love, gives us Believers a 'Jesus Reputation'. And we, students of Jesus, are to be KNOWN for our love!

P.

Jesus, help me to be like you. Help me to love my fellow Believers as You do. Show me how to share their burdens as if they were my own and walk, side by side with them in love and care.

Mood:  sharp

S.

Galations 5:24,25 (NKJ) And those who are Christs have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

O.

Paul is teaching the Galations what the evidences are of Christ in their lives. He teaches that those who belong to Jesus hold an inner change that overflows to the outside, being that His Spirit is so huge it has to overflow onto the outside of their lives. If the very Essence/Spirit of Jesus lives within them, than all human desires and emotions are impaled or staked on their personal cross; the 'animal nature' (selfishness and forbidden desires) of man has to be subdued and destroyed in a 'case to case'or personal basis. These changes come from the desire to be like Jesus and not by working to be like Jesus (trying to do it by themselves). These changes are a spiritual revolution and renovation that come from the inner desire to change and to please God; an inner desire to be like Jesus!

A.

I can picture my 'selfishness' impaled by a stake. It struggles and wiggles, trying to get free but it has to be subdued and destroyed. This is the way to stand beside Jesus. His desires and His plans have to be first in my life. His Spirit inside of me has to reign. My will has to submit to His; total surrender. This causes my spirit to become fully alive, the way God created it to be in the first place. The 'Jesus-shaped-hole' that was created in my spirit for just God can now be filled up. I become totally satisfied in my life. God gets ALL of me.

And it's all from driving a stake through my selfishness; my human/animal nature.

P.

Show me, Lord, how to drive the stake deeper into my selfishness. Create in me a new heart, Lord, that renovates me totally for Your use! I desire YOUR change in my spirit!

Mood:  special

S.

Galations 4:9 NKJ) But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?

O.

God knows us more intimately than we know Him no matter how well we think we know Him. He arranges every element in our lives, including each and every step we take in our walk of life. So why do we fight against that? Why do we desire to go back to the slavery of the flesh? Why do we wrestle, over and over, with God's walk vs a fleshly walk? It's all our choice. If God is with me, who can be against me. When I stand on the knowledge that God dwells in me, I have everything I need to choose not to wrestle; it's needless energy spent on what is already won. With God, we win! And who wants to fight being a winner? Silly...

A.

I need to remind myself that the more I surrender to God the more power He allows me to see in myself. It's already there, I have just allowed satan to cover my eyes in seeing it. The day I said ,"I'm ALL Yours, Jesus", was the day that He put in me all that is needed to overcome the enemy in every way. But it takes a complete surrender to Jesus in order that the weapons can totally be put into use by me. He has ordered ALL my steps...it's my choice to walk in them as the victor....THE WINNER! Even before the 'wrestling match' begins.

P.

Thank You, Jesus, that because You dwell in me everything that I give to You is returned in power and victory! Thank You, My Hero, for Your extreme acts of bravery and winning the war for me. I surreneder to You! Together, WE WIN! You have made me the victorer! And I will forever praise You, Lord!