God's Work

"What we are is God's work." Ephesians 2:10

Do you ever find yourself worrying about what you're going to do? As if things were really up to you or if you actually had the power to change anything? Sure, you can put in the effort and work hard, but at the end of the day, for anything we do or want, God is the one with the power to open the door. What you've achieved in life you can be proud of, but be sure that only a little credit goes to you, for nothing happens in Heaven or Earth without the Father's consent. Therefore, trust in Him. Be sure to acknowledge and respect Him in all things so that His guidance is with you all your life. It doesn't matter how weak you are, shy you are, or scared… you are the work of His hands and what He wants for your life will be… and if you learn to honor and respect Him, what you want for your life will also be.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for making me. Thank You for all You have helped me achieve in my life. Guide me every step of the way so that I may never stray from You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Be Set on Fire!

"May He enlighten your inner vision, that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we were called by God. May You know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for His saints; may you understand with what extraordinary power He acts in favor of us who believe. " - Ephesians 1:18-19

I've been asked a few times why I started to write about God and when I read Paul's letter to the Ephesians, I feel my heart race faster because this verse is exactly why I'm doing this. I have a need to express the love of God because I don't think a lot of people know Him very well. I feel like most people don't understand what He wants from us. It's not about rules or taking away things from our lives. On the contrary, it's about giving us so much more. We are all broken and each of us has wounds that never seem to heal. To me, God is this incredible, all encompassing force that surrounds me in the air I breathe. He's so strong and yet so gentle and when I'm in His presence, it's like being a child again cuddled up in my mother's arms. And this is what I urgently need you to feel. This is how I need you to see my God, your God, your Creator and your Lord Almighty. And like Paul says, I need you to understand what an incredible, fulfilling feeling it is to know that you are loved by God. How at the moment you come into the Lord's presence, your heart beats faster and the love you feel bursting forward cannot be contained. God wants to take care of you, nurture you. When you begin to experience this, you will be so humbled when you see how He goes over and beyond anything you could have ever expected from Him. I can't tell you how many times, just this week alone, I've broken down in tears because I've seen what He's done for me, the care He's shown me. Just when I think I know what to expect, He gives me so much more.

This is what I want for you. This is how I want you to feel. I want the Lord to open your eyes to His love and I want you to accept it, with all of your heart. Be set on fire. Seek Him every day. When you feel it, don't let it dim. Keep on nurturing the Spirit of God in you so that it grows bigger and you begin to live the life of abundance Jesus promised.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, I am so humbled by Your power and Your love. Thank You for letting Yourself be known to me. Thank You for revealing Yourself. I don't ever want to take You for granted or push You back further in my life from where You are today. Instead, help me be light and salt of the Earth so that I can make You proud and with others share in this love You have given me. In Your Name we pray, amen.

The Mark of God

"Do not sadden the Holy Spirit of God which you were marked with. It will be your distinctive mark on the day of salvation." - Ephesians 4:30

I just got engaged on New Year's and as I look at my ring, it's amazing how much it symbolizes. It represents a promise of love, commitment, fidelity and a number of other things. Now imagine if with every argument my boyfriend and I had, my ring would slowly chip away. How delicate the ring would be if our love and comprehension were what it depended on. This is the Holy Spirit in our lives. By being followers of Jesus Christ, we are marked by the Holy Spirit of God. The very life and power of God is in us as His promise of love, commitment, and fidelity to each and every one of us. The bible compares God's love for us as a marriage over and over again and the Holy Spirit residing in us is the sign of the commitment. But you can't take this gift for granted because unlike the ring, it does fade and can leave you. Anger, hate, betrayals, bitterness, gossip, all these things sadden the Holy Spirit because He cannot exist in the same soul as these evils. Allowing these things into your life slowly destroys you until God can no long dwell or work within you. This might be the reason why some people who have let sin constantly seep in have trouble finding God when they need Him; His Holy Spirit is dead within them.

The Holy Spirit is a treasure for you to take care of. He is how God functions in you. Watch what you say, do, think so that everything can be in accordance with what pleases God. The Holy Spirit within you is the mark God has given you to show the world you belong to Him.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You promised to send us the power of the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us, please help us nurture this Spirit so we are always pleasing to You. Make clear to us what we should and shouldn't do so that You can dwell in us forever. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Wanted

"God chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and without sin in His presence. From eternity He destined us in love to be His adopted sons through Christ Jesus." - Ephesians 1:4-5

There are many people that carry the pain of not being wanted or loved by their parents. Many children are born as "mistakes" and many are abandoned when they're young. A lot of people also grow with the feeling that they're just not good enough and won't amount to anything. My own father was told by his father that he would never be anything special in life. These children grow up feeling neglected and seldom know what real love is or how to express and accept it as adults.

If you carry this pain in your heart, the feeling that you weren't loved enough by a parent or were neglected when you needed them, you must remember one thing, although your parents provided the natural way for you to come into the world, it was God that took His time to think about you, design your life, and plan for you way before the world was even created. God chose you before the creation of the world. You are no accident and although neglect from your parents hurts, you are loved and taken care of by your Father in Heaven. Your life might seem small at times and insignificant, but God Almighty has bigger plans for you. You are special, you are loved and you need to pick up your head and carry on with life knowing that God, your Father, planned for you, created you and will do great things for you, no matter who else doesn't love you or appreciate you.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, it's so hard for me to accept and believe Your love at times, but I know You did in fact choose me. Help me to accept this love and begin to change my heart to let go of the pain I hold inside. In Your Name we pray, amen.

The New Self

"You must give up your former way of living, the old self, whose deceitful desires bring self-destruction. Renew yourselves spiritually, from inside, and put on the new self, or self according to God, which is created in true righteousness and holiness." - Ephesians 4:22-24

I bet you're waiting for a miracle in your life. You're waiting for God to speak to you in an amazing way or an angel to appear to you, touch you and instantly you're a saint, and you go around doing good to all you meet. You expect to be touched and instantly be converted, love going to church each week and reading the bible. That happens to about 1% of people, the rest have to keep trying to put on the new self.

I'm reading a really great book right now called An Invitation to a Journey, a roadmap for spiritual formation. It talks about how being spiritual is a hot thing right now. Madonna is rocking her red string bracelet and Tom Cruise is an ambassador for Scientology. We think we can get spirituality quickly and if nothing happens when we pray, God isn't in that religion so we try another. That isn't the way to true spirituality. True spirituality is a process which usually takes our whole lives to fulfill. It is the process of becoming more like God and if we really take a good look at ourselves, that is going to take a lot of time! Whether you see it right now or not, we are all on this journey. Every day we make decisions that either make us more self-centered, lonely people, spreading the shallowness of this world, or every day we take a step closer in trying to brighten someone's day or lending a hand to a friend or stranger in need. This is what Paul means by doing away with the old self - the part of us that tends towards self-destruction. Instead, we need to strive to put on the new self, using each and every day as a vehicle of light and not darkness. And if you think it's not that serious, think again… each day you live reaffirms either the good or bad in your life.

Your decision to use your journey is one that you need to make every day. There really are only two paths in life and your intentions in your decision making make all the difference as to which path you're walking. Each day is a brand new day in the journey of your spirituality, and if you choose to be light instead of darkness, every day you will be a little more like God. Remember, not even God created the world in a day, so don't expect a conversion overnight.


Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me to each day leave my old self behind and be more like You. Remind me that my life is a journey and that one step back doesn't necessarily mean I am lost or a bad person. Help me learn from my mistakes to build my new self and actively choose to be light of the world each day. In Your Name we pray, amen.

How To Accept Others

"Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace." - Ephesians 4:2-3


I'm an idealist. I take everything for face value and have often been called näive. Honestly, I believe everyone should be able to get along, speak openly and understand one another and it's been super painful to realize that this isn't the case, especially within families. I was reading Ephesians one day and came across this verse above. I was so struck by the word "bear." Saint Paul says we have to bear with one another. Me, being an idealist, thought to myself, "why bear? They were Christians! They're supposed to love each other and everything is supposed to be great!"But obviously, it wasn't if Paul had to address this issue.

And I'm coming to realize that people will always have issues with others, no matter how much love there is. We are all different, and that's ok because it's the way God made us. Some of us are punctual, some of us are always late, but either way, God made us all in those ways. We, and I do this a lot, tend to judge and think that if something isn't my way, then the other person is wrong. I've learned I have to grow as a person and understand that I'm not right all the time and I need to stretch and accept others the way they are. That's why Paul says to bear, because there will always be issues, differences, misunderstandings, but at the end of the day, we need to work in peace to find a solution. We need to treat others with kindness and try our best to understand and accept others for who they are. We need to learn to bear with one another, even when they're not stretching for us.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, thank You for opening my eyes to my own injustices. Thank You for teaching me to understand that different isn't wrong and I'm not always right. I pray that You bring this deep understanding to others so that we may all treat one another with kindness and learn to bear with one another in peace. In Your Name we pray, amen.

True Life

"I say to you, then, and with insistence I advise you in the Lord: do not imitate the pagans who live an aimless kind of life. Their understanding is in darkness and they remain in ignorance because of their blind conscience, very far from the life of God." - Ephesians 4:17-18

It pains me to say, but I see this aimless kind of life Saint Paul talks about all around me. I see people whose priorities are all screwed up. Is life just stacking up materials things to be in a better class range than others, or is it going out late, getting wasted and doing it all again the next day? It's none of these. That's an empty life, it's aimless and no life at all. Unfortunately, it's what we see on TV, magazines, and movies. It's the life of the people we admire, the lives of people we wish we had for just one day. But I guarantee that as fabulous as it seems and as fun as it seems, they are so empty inside. Are you feeling empty inside? What is the aim of your own life? What are you doing with the gift God gave you? People go around trying to fill their lives with things they think will make them happy, but only God, who is the author of life can give it meaning. The confusion you feel within you, that sense of being absolutely lost at times, the answer to that is not in the world. It's not in what you think you want or what you think will fill you and make you happy. Don't look for the answers among the rich and good looking people - they've just got it together on the outside. But true life, true meaning is only found in God. You were created by Him to have life in Him, and away from Him, you are nothing. You toil and trouble, trying to arrange your own world, but it's all in vain. You're still empty. You're still lonely and feel you have nothing or no one. Surrender yourself to God. Let Him fill you. Let Him show you what real life is, what real happiness is, what real peace is.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You are the source of all goodness and kindness. Reinforce in my heart and in the hearts of all who read this that only You can fill us and give us true life in abundance. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Couples - What It Means to Love

"And as the Church submits to Christ, so let a wife submit in everything to her husband. As for you, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her." - Ephesians 5:24-25

We all know God is our Father, but also throughout history there have been many comparisons to God's relationship with us to that of a husband and wife. The relationship between a couple is one of a sublime, deeper love, one characterized by a yearning to be with that other person. The Old Testament book Song of Songs reads as a poem between lovers but it is actually about the soul's longing to be connected to God. And now in the New Testament, we have a comparison between Christ's love for us and marriage between a man and a woman.

The main theme in this bible verse from Paul's letter to the Ephesians is to love your partner in the same way Jesus has loved us. And how has Jesus proven His love for us? Besides obviously dying on the cross and sacrificing Himself for our well-being, He lived a life of service, washing His disciples' feet instead of the other way around. He listened to the crowds and fed them. He healed them when they were sick and He spent time with them. But if you think about the main reason Jesus did all of this, you realize what our main role should be as husbands and wives/ boyfriends and girlfriends - to bring our partner to God. Every single thing Jesus did in His ministry was to give those He loved eternal life and joy in God. If you really love the person you're with, the ultimate way of proving your love and intentions for that person is to make sure they're right with God. You love this person so much that not only do you take care of their physical and emotional needs, but their spiritual needs as well. And as their soul grows closer to God, so will your relationship, as everything which has God as its foundation can weather any storm and overcome any obstacle.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, You created man and woman to be with one another and love each other as You have loved us. Help me to bring the gift of Your love to my partner and open their heart to receive You fully. Help us to grow together in You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

In Constant Contact

"Pray at all times as the Spirit inspires you. Keep watch, together with sustained prayer and supplication for all the brothers." - Ephesians 6:18

Just like in the Looney Tunes we watched when we were younger, we have two voices in our heads, one trying to tempt us into sin, and the other leading us to God for the good of our souls. When it comes to prayer, the truth is that most of the time, we don't feel like praying. Don't think that religious people want to pray 24/7 because it's not true. Yes, it is so rewarding to go into the Lord's presence, but a lot of times we just want to be left alone, or we're too tired to pray. But when we allow ourselves to be tuned out like this from being in contact with God, how do we expect God to speak to us or make Himself known to us? Each of us hears that little voice inside of us, nudging us from time to time that we need to pray. But here scripture is telling you that it is the Spirit of God speaking to your heart, telling you to go to Him and speak to Him. You might hear it faintly if you are not used to recognizing it, but if you learn to pay attention to it, God will speak louder to you each time. Do as the scripture says and pray each and every single time you are inspired to. Don't ignore the voice because you don't have time, you are too tired, or you can't pay attention, because it is God that gives you the time you have and He should come before everything else. When you learn to listen to His voice and let yourself be led by Him, then you will receive true blessings in your life. You will no longer find yourself begging and crying in a time of need, because your communication with God will be constant and the gifts and protection He gives you will be continual and abundant; you will no longer even need to ask Him for anything because He gives freely.

Relax your mind right now, do you hear the voice? Do you feel the need to connect to your Father in Heaven? Don't miss this call and go be in His presence.

Today's Prayer:
My Lord, forgive me for the times that I brushed aside Your call because I didn't have time or didn't care to make the time. I seek to put You first and be in constant contact with You. Please help me stay in union with You always. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Is There Someone You Can't Stand?

"Our battle is not against human forces but against the rulers and authorities and their dark powers that govern this world. We are struggling against the spirits and supernatural forces of evil." - Ephesians 6:12

There's this girl at my job that I really can't stand. I could be in a great mood and she walks in, opens her mouth and just gets me in a bad mood. Seriously, I could go on and on about her, but I shouldn't be telling you bad things about her because when I pray to God about how much I can't stand her, I realize I'm the one with the problem. You see, the book of Genesis tells us we were all created in the image of God, so He exists in all of us. How then could I not stand someone who is made in God's image? I can't stand this girl because just as God wants us to love one another, the devil works to put hate in our hearts for others. I see her as annoying but in reality, she hasn't done anything to me. The devil is the one that makes me feel animosity towards her. I'm constantly praying for love and patience to deal with her and do God's will, although every day is a struggle.

This is also the reason we cannot forgive people sometimes. We know we are supposed to forgive because even on the cross Jesus asked God to forgive those that crucified Him, so we must do the same. You see, those that hurt and betray us were tempted by the enemy to take those actions. We already know that person was created in the image of God so without the devil's influence, that person would not have hurt us. And when they hurt us, we cannot forgive and receive healing because the devil makes us hold on to the grudge, blocking God's will to relieve us and free us from the offense. We must open our eyes and realize that our true enemy is one, Satan and his demons, and they're so slick and subtle that they'll make us hate when we shouldn't while justifying that hate in our hearts. Jesus wants us to love as He did, even though He too was betrayed and offended. Forgiving does NOT mean what the person did to us was right, it only means that for God's sake, you are letting go of the hate that won't let you be free and receive love in your heart. So please think about the people in your life that you can't forgive, people that you can't stand and therefore don't treat well, and all others you don't hold in high esteem and remember that it is the will of God for you to love them, and if you refuse, you must know that it is the devil at work in you. As hard as this is to accept, there is no gray area here - you are either being influenced by God or the devil. Choose whose will you want to follow. Trust me, I know this is super hard, but Jesus did say His path was narrow and few will be able to follow it.

I'm taking my journey down that path day by day with my eyes focused on Him, constantly asking for strength and guidance.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, I want to ask You to bless all those that I don't get along with and those that I have grudges against in my heart. I know it is Your will for me to forgive and I know that the devil wants to keep me away from being free of these negative feelings, so please, help me move past this and reject the temptations of the enemy so that I can be perfect and righteous as You are. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

We Are Conquerers

"May you know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for His saints; may you understand with what extraordinary power He acts in favor of us who believe." - Ephesians 1:18-19

This is my prayer for you today. You have heard God's promises for you but I know that it's really hard to believe in them, especially when things feel tough to handle. Nevertheless, God is alive and active in your life and all you need is a change of attitude in order to see that. God never changes, nor ever goes back on His word, so you're the one that needs to do a little adjusting in your life to see and feel what He's doing. As Saint Paul says in one of his letters, God gave us the spirit of conquerers, so that we are never defeated if we have Him, but continually consoled and strengthened. And when this moment comes, that you truly learn to trust in Him and let Him guide your life, I promise that you will be completely amazed by what He does with you. God will uphold you in a way that will astonish you and make you fall down on your knees in order to praise and honor Him. Believe and live in His word!

Today's Prayer:
Thank You my Lord for being far more generous and loving than I could ever deserve. Don't ever let me loose sight of You but instead never cease to praise You for Your glory! In Your Name we pray, Amen

Give Thanks to The Lord Always

"Gather together to pray with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and celebrate the Lord in your heart, giving thanks to God the Father in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, always and for everything." - Ephesians 5:19-20

We do a lot of asking to God but how often do we give thanks? Our prayers of petition are fervent but how about our thanksgiving?

Through our many trials and tribulations the most promising way of receiving strength and consolation is to submit your will to the Lord and give Him thanks because you have faith that He is already in action. Praising the Lord, singing to Him and partaking in this action with other believers brings us joy and the hope to keep on perservering in the faith.

If you don't believe me, try taking time out today to just give thanks to the Lord for your life. Give Him thanks because He has taken out His time to create you. Give Him thanks because your body is perfect. Give thanks to God for He has called you to hear His message. Give thanks to God for you have a roof over your head when you know many don't. You have food on your plate when you know many don't. You go through many problems but at the end of the day, it has all worked out, hasn't it? Stop pointing to all that's wrong in your life when the Lord has clearly given you numerous more blessings.

Maybe we need to be encouraged by one another and the great things God has done for us rather than our sorrows and what we feel God needs to fix.

Here is an example of something wonderful God did for me. Although it might seem small to some and pure circumstance, nothing for God is a coincidence; He plans everything out perfectly. Throughout college I always ordered my books used from Amazon.com. As soon as I got the syllabus, I ordered them. My last year in college, I delayed a bit and forgot to order one of the books, until I realized I needed it for a paper that was due in two weeks. I quickly ordered it online but then a couple of days later, the teacher decided she was going to move up the assignment and wanted us to bring it in the following week. This wasn't a nice teacher either, she was very mean so she would never let it slide. I ran to check the status of my order online and saw that the book was to be delivered in 2 to 3 more weeks since I had bought it from an Amazon marketplace. Panicked, I went to all the book stores I could think of but no one had the book, not even our school library. I prayed to God and asked Him to help me. I shouldn't have delayed and it was my fault, but when I asked, I had confidence that He would help me. I even gave Him thanks because He has always helped me in the past, so why wouldn't He help me now? When I got home that same day from school, guess what was waiting for me in the doorstep of my house? My book. Can you imagine how I felt? That book was not supposed to be there but God heard me and miraculously, becuase He knew I needed it and had faith in Him, God delivered it to my door!

These are the things God does for us! I would really appreciate it if you could please write back to me with a story of something God has done for you. The purpuse of today's verse is for us to come together and support each other, confirming our faith with the work God has done in us. Just as I have given you a story to show God's hand, tell me what He has done for you. There are about 20 of you that this email goes out to, let's encourage one another! I won't write the name of who sent the story in if you wish to remain anonymous, but please remember that through your testimony, God can help touch and strengthen someone else!

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You so much for the gift of who You are. Thank You for loving me so much as to deem me worthy of listening and partaking of Your Word. Help me to be a light to others and in giving You thanks for the blessings I receive, I help encourage the faith of my brothers. In Your Name we pray, Amen.