Responding to the Power of God

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18 I first want to begin by thanking those of you who have been praying for me and my health. These last 2 and a half weeks have been very difficult, both physically and mentally. For those of you who don't know, I have a rare disease that (when active) causes my arteries to narrow and close, causing little to no blood flow to my heart and brain. The main artery in my left arm is almost completely closed due to the disease's beginning. Since then, every so often, I have problems with that arm constricting and minimizing my blood flow in my arm and to my heart. My doctors are beginning more tests to find what is causing this and to know how to stop it. As you can guess, I have been doing alot of thinking. I thought alot about my faith and God's power. I want to be able to have that faith that melts the very heart of God. I want to be in such a deep relationship with God that my eyes never fall away, that they stay locked in His. I want to have a trust in my Lord that is so great, no circumstance could make me doubt his power. Yet, sometimes, my eyes do fall away from His. The swirling wind and waves around me get my attention. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever wondered why, as a Christian, you feel so cowardly and confused in the trial you are going through? Have you ever asked yourself, "Why can't I just trust God like I'm 'supposed' too?" Well, for 22 days, I have prayed for God to reveal to me His next post. I am pleased to say that He answers those questions in this post... When I think about what happened at the cross all those years ago, my response is bitter sweet. It hurts me to think about how badly Jesus was beaten, how much He bled, how much pain He endured. It is difficult for me to think about the insults He heard, the thorns that were pushed into His head, and the nails driven deep into His hands and feet. But then, I am filled with so much love and gratitude that I smile when I think about the fact that He did that for me, for you. I think of how God gave up His own son so that you and I could have an eternity with Him and our loved ones. I am so happy Jesus has gone to prepare a place that is so beautiful, it is called Heaven. Even though what happened at the cross makes cry with both tears of joy and with tears of sadness, what happened at the cross was powerful! It was God's power! When we accept Christ into our hearts as Lord and Savior through salvation, we are responding to this very power (Romans 1:16-17). By making this profession of faith, our response is that we believe that we are sinners and are in need of being 'saved' from the eternal punishment for sin, which is Hell. We are also saying that we believe that God sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross in place of us and took on our sin (John 3:16). He became our Savior. By accepting this gift of salvation, this in turn, gives us eternal life in Heaven. We also believe that Jesus arose from the grave and ascended into Heaven and is someday, coming again for His Bride (Matt. 24:44; John 14:2-3; Rev. 19:7). Wow! We serve a God who is so powerful that He defeated death, sin, and is preparing a place for us to be with Him one day! POWER. As Christians, the power that God showed through His son's death and resurrection is our very reason for living. It ensures our eternity. As 1 Corinthians 1:18 states, it is the 'power of God' and certainly not 'foolishness'! But here is a question: Why doesn't our response to the power of what happened at the cross (the power of God), change our response to the trials in our lives? Ephesians 1:19-23 tells us that we (God's children), have the same power working within us that raised Chris from the dead. I believe this is a concept that Satan doesn't want the believer to know. Do we believe that God's power is limited to the cross? We believe that God could save us from an eternity in Hell, defeat death, but that He will fail to carry us through a fiery trial? My friends, we must realize that we are still responding to God's power in our lives today... we either believe Him to be faithful and at work within us or we believe Him to fail us. God is showing me that when I fail to believe Him and trust Him, it is because there are pieces of me that I have failed to give over to Him completely. These are also known as strongholds. They create distance between us and our Father. They are lies that Satan uses to keep us from having an intimate relationship with God. What about you? Are you a going through a trial in your life right now? Are you a Christian and wondering why you just can't seem to get rid of fear and doubt that God might not come through for you? We must go to God with those thoughts of fear, doubt, anger, etc. We must find out who He really is. If we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. He will provide you energy when you are tired (Col. 1:29). He will give you strength, endurance, and patience when you think you can't make it even one more day (Col. 1:11). Allow God to show His power in your life. It's the same power that raised Jesus from the dead! It's the same power that we believed at the moment we accepted Him into our hearts. We must let go of trying to control it and do it 'our way'. It never works that way. I hope you will join me in 'responding' daily to God's power. Give God complete control of your life. I would like to share one of my favorite passages in God's word with you. It is Isaiah 49:16: "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands: your walls are ever before me." In the earlier Jewish times, it was customary to puncture one's hands with a symbol of their city and their temple as a sign of commitment and devotion. This verse and the verses before it show us God's amazing compassion and His promise to never forget His children, even those children who disobey Him and then return. When you feel afraid that He is going to leave you or doubt that He won't come through for you, reflect on that verse: Close your eyes and imagine that you are standing at the foot of the cross. You can see Him hanging there. Jesus, the Deity living in bodily form. His arms are outstretched. Look closer at His hands. Closer. Do you see it? Your name is written on His palm. God won't forget us... Calvary has already proven that. Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, I am so grateful for your power. Words can't express the love I feel for you when I think about the cross. But I know that you want to show that power in my life on a daily basis. Help me to give you every part of me. Break my strongholds. I want to deepen my trust in you. I want faith that is unshakable. I want a heart that mirrors yours. Help me to give you my life fully...daily...

Rockwood Women's Conference

Thank you, ladies of Rockwood Baptist Church in Russellville, Alabama, for hosting a wonderful women's conference! Our theme was, "Reflections of a Lovely Lady." Throughout the day, God revealed who He says that we are in Christ. The Holy Spirit moved in such a mighty way. It is so good to know our true identity in Christ! It was an honor for me to be with you and I am so thankful for the invitation to share God's word. May we continue to remember Debbie King and the entire Bolton family, in the loss of Bro. Oneal Bolton. We lift you up in prayer to be bathed in God's grace and His comfort. We also rejoice in the fact that Bro. Oneal has been called home by our Father... Love, Corrie

Hugging God

"The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, 'Destroy him!" Deuteronomy 33:27 At 32, I finally understand why my dad used my brother and I as illustrations so often in his sermons: kids are great material. Yes, they are hilarious but they also say those things that are so very profound and leave you speechless; Especially when it comes to things about God. The other day, Canaan (my 4 year old son) and I were discussing things about God and I was answering his questions the best that I could (no one told me that when your kid is about 4, you need to take a class in theology!). You know, the usual questions about how God made everything and everyone, and how...why... and when. I had just finished answering a question that had something to do with God and dinosaurs. I breathed a sigh of relief (thinking the conversation had ended and hoped I had answered his questions without making anything up :-) when Canaan asked me a question that I think I will never forget. He said, "Mommy, how can I hug God?" He continued with, "I just want to hug Him but I don't know how." I felt a lump rise in my throat and wanted to cry right then and there. I wanted to cry because of the love I knew Canaan had for God. To him, a hug is one of the biggest ways to show someone you love them. I wanted to cry because Canaan's question made me check my own heart. How often do I really tell God how much I love Him? Do my actions reflect that my heart beats for Him above all else? I knelt down by Canaan and told him the only answer I could think of. I told Him that we show God how much we love Him by telling Him in prayer, showing Him by our actions, and telling other people about Him. Later that day, Canaan went on about his business, but that question about hugging God stayed with me. I looked up the definition of the word 'hug'. It means, "to press tightly, especially in the arms." I started thinking about God's arms and the times they were there for me. How that during my trials, God's arms were around me, protecting me, sheltering me, comforting me. Sometimes His arms were stern, as a loving disciplining father, directing me and keeping me from making harmful decisions. There were even times that I ran away from those arms and then wondered why I didn't feel Him near and felt afraid. I am slowly learning that as God's child, it is absolutely necessary to press into God's arms. This not a suggestion or something you 'could do'...it is a must. I was turning through my Bible and saw that Deuteronomy 33:27 was underlined. Out to the side are the words, "Proof that God Protects". As His people, we MUST believe this verse. This verse cannot be skimmed over, it must be broken down and studied piece by piece. The beginning of the verse tells us that God is eternal. He exists even when we don't believe He is there. No doubts that you or I have about Him, makes Him less powerful or effective. He is eternal. He has always been here and always will be. How? I don't know; that's one of the reasons I call Him God. The next part of the verse says that He is our refuge. He is that place of shelter in times of distress. His word doesn't say that times of distress won't come, but that when they come, we will press into the arms. The last part tells us that God will protect us from our enemies. I think that sometimes, we believe that people around us are where are battles are. But we forget that our biggest enemy is Satan. I believe that if God protects me from Satan himself, He can handle anyone on this earth that threatens me with harm. This whole verse is powerful, but I must say that my favorite part is the middle... 'underneath is the everlasting arms.' Underneath means 'beneath the surface'. This tells me that at the end of every trial, every tear, every struggle, there are the arms... His arms. To me, stepping out on faith feels like I am just free falling. Falling and falling and having no idea where I will land. How wonderful it is to know that at the end are His arms. The arms are everlasting. There is no end to His help. You and I never have to wonder when God will leave us or abandon us. He won't. Perhaps you feel like you are completely alone in a trial in your life right now. Maybe it is comfort you long for from His arms because of the pain that you feel. You must press into His arms. Perhaps you need protection from the fire that is flames from those around you. You must press into His arms. When you do this, He will deal with your enemies and not a hair on your head will be singed (Daniel 3:27 ). There are a million reasons to need God's arms. We must remember that as His people, we must not worry about 'what the arms will do'. Our job is to press tightly into them. I guess there is a way to 'hug' God after all... Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, thank you for Canaan and showing me that I need to press tightly into your arms. Thank you for loving me, disciplining me, comforting me, and just simply holding me up with your everlasting arms. Help me to rid myself of arrogance and pride and know I am nothing without you...

Strings and Knots

"As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things." Ecclesiastes 11:5

When I was younger, I used to love to cross stitch. Of course, back then I seemed to have more patience to sit there for hours. Moving the needle in and out, hoping that soon, what I was 'attempting' to make would look something like the picture it came with :-) One day, I was about to continue with one of my projects. As I went to get the cross stitch piece I was working on out of my sewing box (yes, I had a sewing box! What of it!!), I noticed all these knots and strings on the back of my picture. For a second, I was amazed that so many ugly looking pieces of strings and knots could actually turn out to make such a beautiful picture. God has since then brought my 'cross stitching' days of glory back to my mind. He reminds me that His children (myself included!) are always looking at the knots and strings of His will for our life, questioning, wondering, why, why why? Yet, our Father, the designer of our life, is looking at the finished product. He knows the purpose for every string, every knot, every turn, and every loop. We plead for glimpses of that finished product, but sometimes they come and sometimes there is only silence. What does this mean for us as God's people? He will tell us in this post... I think I could learn something new about God every second of my life until the day I die and I would have still never scratched the surface of who this magnificent God really is. However, at the present moment in my Christian walk, He is working with me on belief. A question that I have often asked myself is, "Why can't I just believe God?" The answer to this question goes back to the Garden of Eden. Believing God seems like such a simple concept. Though the concept is simple, God's people often find it to be so difficult. The reason is sin. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of life. He didn't tell them every detail or go over the complete plan, but He told them what He wanted them to know for the moment. You know, the 'strings and knots'? But then, Satan came into the picture. He gave Eve reasons (illusions) of why she should eat from that tree and not believe God. Sin is still the reason God's children find it difficult to believe Him today. You see, sin creates distance between us and God. We often think of sin to be murder, stealing, big lies (as opposed to little white ones), sexually sins, etc. But in God's eyes, sin is sin and sin equals distance. Do we ever think that pride is sin? Arrogance? Putting other people (even if it's our own family) before God... it's sin too. The reason we fail to believe God is because we allow (notice I said 'we' allow) sin to wedge itself between us and God, slowly creating distance. Satan does this by telling us lies. You may be saying, "Corrie, what lies? I know when I am being lied to!" No. Satan is very good at deceiving. Have you ever found yourself asking the question of, "Will God really help me in this trial?"; "What if He doesn't rescue me?"; "What if everything I know about God really isn't really true?" My friend, these are the lies that take our eyes off of our Father. And the moment we look down, the waves seem to wash over us, crashing, smothering us as if to feel as though we are drowning. So, how do we believe God and not the lies? How do we wait when we only see the 'strings and knots'? I believe the answer is in God's word. I started looking at people in the Bible who God gave instruction to trust Him, believe Him, with only knowing very limited information: Abraham- God tells him to just pack up everything and everybody, move'm out and follow Him! Strings and knots. Abraham is also a good example for us to see what can happen if you want to flip over the cross stitch to see the finished product way too early! (But after that, Abraham did believe God for the rest of his life); Moses-God tells him to go tell this big scary tyrant to just 'let the people go' and if he didn't, to threaten the big scary tyrant with a bunch of plagues! Strings and knots. Mary-God tells her she is having a baby (and we all know all the biology that was missing there!) and the baby would be the Messiah! Strings and knots. David, Samuel, Job...strings and knots. I could go on and on of people who believed God when they didn't know what the completed picture would be like. So, if sin existed then as it exists now, how did they believe God? The reason is the relationship these people had with God. These people spent time with God, talking to Him and listening to Him, confessing sin so that they could be close with Him. When they became afraid, they drew closer and closer to God (James 4:8). That is the answer for us today. We believe God when we are close to God. The closer I get to God, the more I seek to be like Him. The more of His identity I can take on, the less sin can wedge its way in between us. When the distance is gone, trust is built! Spending time with God also includes reading and studying His word. But, in order for God's word to bring us comfort, encouragement, power, etc, we must be able to believe the one who wrote it (Proverbs 30:5). What about you? Are you struggling to believe God in a trial right now? The way we can believe Him is to confess the sin that is causing the distance between us and God. We must stop buying into the lies of Satan and allowing him to intimidate us into doubting a God that is true. I love to read Hebrews chapter 11. It is a chapter completely devoted to God's people who believed Him when they only saw the 'strings and knots'. You and I must be willing to believe God even though the wind howls around us. We must choose to believe Him when Satan stages the illusion of no hope being anywhere in sight. When Satan roars in our face, we must remember he was stripped of power at Calvary and that he is a lion with no teeth. We are God's people. We must prove faithful. I will end the post with Lamentations 3:21-24: "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness, I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." ****Here's to 'strings and knots'! Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, forgive me for wanting to rush ahead of you in your plans for my life. Those strings and knots that I have seen have been so purposeful in my relationship with you and they still are. Help me to wait on you and boldly follow you with total belief in who you are... not only for what you do..

Fireworks

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage each other with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming." Matthew 24:42 As I have shared with you before, after God gives me the post to write, I immediately begin to pray for Him to give me the next one. Then, rather than panic, I have learned to wait for Him. Just a few hours ago, God overwhelmed my heart with this particular post. I must say, it is perhaps one of the most encouraging and exciting post He has ever given me. I hope in reading this, God will change the perception of your day today... I am sure many of you celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks (unless you are like me and live in the woods and can't because you might start a forest fire that would burn for days!). Anyway, tonight at my church, we continued the celebration by gathering together to honor both our Lord and our men and women of service. We also had the privilege of hearing our Congressman, Robert Aderholt, share his heart. After the service, hot dogs and ice cream were served. And then came the fireworks. As we all stood outside, everyone seemed to stop eating and talking as the fireworks show began. The sky was beautifully lit up with an array of color and explosions of loud sounds that indicated the beauty that would soon come behind them. All of a sudden, God allowed me to see something wonderful and exciting... so exciting that I have chills again writing about it. There, all around me, stood 2 or 3 hundred people, gazing up at the sky. They couldn't take their eyes of what was happening in the sky. Suddenly, I felt as though I had caught a tiny glimpse of what it will be like when our Lord returns for us. I feel as though some times, we begin to think that our lives, our trials, are to hard to bear here in this old world. Satan plants the doubts of 'is this man really coming back for us?' My friend, God placed this post on my heart tonight to encourage you who are weary. This includes me. So many of us are undergoing trials that seem to take away our very breath. The endurance for another day seems almost to hard to bear. We must remember that we are not orphans who have been abandoned or discarded. We are sons and daughters of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords! We are royalty, but we wait as though we are forgotten children. You and I must understand that HE WILL BE BACK! Prophecies have been and are continuing to be fulfilled. It is getting closer and closer to the day when the trumpet sounds and our eyes are drawn to the activity in the sky, once again. But this time, not for fireworks. The Lord Jesus has come to do as He promised! Our loved ones ,who have accepted Him through salvation, will rise first and then us--His children! We will be changed! My heart beats faster as I write this post. But as much as I long to see my Saviour and those who have gone before me, there is much work to be done. Jesus did not tell us to rest with our feet up while He went to get everything ready. No, you and I must share with others about the day of our Lord. Even though I know I will be a part of that glorious day, if it were today, I would be heart broken. Heart broken for those I have not told about my Lord. Do you know if your spouse has accepted Christ into their heart? Other family members? Your best friend? What about that person who is sitting next to you right now? I have failed my God miserably in this area, but I am going to strive to change that. Perhaps your are going through a difficult trial in your life right now. You never seem to be able to 'get everything together' here on Earth. If your are God's child, He tells us that we are aliens and strangers to this world. We are temporary. And for that reason, we must depend on God and His power to take us through the 'land of the living'. We have work to do, guys and gals. He is returning. What we have read is true. My heart tells me it is. But for today or tonight, whenever you are reading this, I challenge you to do something that I did tonight: Look at the sky for just a moment. If you are His child, anticipate that day where we will be caught up in the air, the trumpet... the rapture. As for our trials we face today, 1 Thess. 4:18 tells us that the return of Christ should encourage us as believers. But until that day comes, we must continue to do the work... His work. Love, Corrie (Note: If you have never asked Christ into your heart to be your Lord and Saviour, I would be honored to share with you how to do that. Please contact me by phone or by email (both my email address and phone number can be found on the home page of the website). It will be the best decision you will ever make :-) My prayer for today: Lord, how thankful I am that you have gone to prepare a place for me. A place that I can't even imagine. I nailed you to that cross and you gave me eternity in return. I don't know what to say except that I am thankful. I will proclaim who you are until you return.

Against All Hope

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." Romans 4:18-22 My husband, Shane, and I had the privilege of attending a Christian marriage retreat, specifically for coaches and their wives, this past weekend (coachesoutreach.org, by the way;-). It was wonderful! In the worship sessions, we studied the first 5 chapters of Romans. As I was reading along with the pastor, we came across the above verses. It seemed at though time stood still for me as I read these verses over and over again. It was as if they were written in darker ink than any of the other text. The entire day and night, I thought about these verses. Then, God spoke to me and said this would be the post... You cannot study God's word without learning about Abraham. If Abraham lived in our world today, he would totally be on the front of every tabloid magazine. Why? Because he had an incredible life story. If you only knew the ending of Abraham's story, then you would think he had been this young, strong, well-educated man that was from a strong Christian home and had a beautiful young trophy wife to match. After all, who wouldn't choose this type of man to say he was 'the father of all nations'? Wouldn't this type of man be chosen to begin the bloodline of Jesus, the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? The truth is, Abraham's life story is incredible because of one thing: Abraham believed God. That's it. We find in God's word that Abraham's father worshiped many gods, while Abraham worshiped the one true God. So, it wasn't his monumental upbringing that moved God's heart. And as for physical appearance, Abraham was an elderly man (and so was his wife for that matter!) when God decided to let the blessings begin. God showed me, after reading this text, that believing Him was the ultimate characteristic He is looking for. Abraham did not only believe God, but he put his hope in God when there was no reason to hope. The beginning of Romans 4:18 says, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed..." So here is a question: How do you hope in God when there is no reason to hope? The definition for the word 'hope' in the dictionary is very different from the definition of how 'hope' is used in God's word. The dictionary says hope is: 'to desire something, yet having no assurance that it will really happen'. The Bible tells us that here, hope means, 'strong and confident expectation'. That's it. Abraham was confident that God would come through on the promises He had made. Perhaps you are at a place in your life today that you are finding it extremely difficult to find hope 'against all hope'. Maybe you really wish God would come through, but that doubt that He just might not, takes your thoughts captive. How do we fix it? How can we have this confidence in God that Abraham had? Well, to be confident that someone will come through for you, you have to KNOW them. Right? I mean, would you meet a stranger or someone you talked to every once in a while, and ask them to do something for you and really be confident they would come through for you? I wouldn't! But don't we do it with God? We don't know Him. That is the problem with the hope. Abraham KNEW God. Verses 20 & 21 say that Abraham was actually strengthened in his faith after facing the fact that he was too old for this to be humanly possible! How often do we totally give up when we see how big our obstacle is and we run the stats on if we can get past it? It makes me want to jump up and down when I think about the fact that Abraham knew God so well, that he was 'fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised him'!! If you read through Genesis, you will find many examples of where Abraham is talking to God. He went to God with his problems. I also noticed that Abraham didn't forget to praise God in the good times too. The Bible tells us of numerous times Abraham stopped and build an alter and gave a sacrifice to God. This was done because He praised this Almighty God for just being with Him, being faithful. O how I forget to praise Him for just waking me up in the morning. If you feel hopeless about your situation, God wants you to know that He can provide you hope. To me, Abraham was the most blessed person by God in our history. God began a legacy with Abraham; a legacy that gave us a Saviour! God didn't choose to bless Abraham because of his physical, mental, or emotional characteristics. It wasn't about Abraham's status at work or the money he had or didn't have. It was the fact that Abraham believed God 'against all hope'. You may say, "Corrie, it's 2009 and my circumstances are alot different from Abraham." This may be true, but thank goodness having different circumstances won't matter... it's still the same God. Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, thank you so much for recording your journey with Abraham in your word. It makes me feel so much better to know that when I feel hopeless, hope can be found in you. Help me to remember to take the time to get to know you so that I may be confident in who you are and your power. Draw me closer to you so that I may depend on you for my every breath...

Do Not Forget: Part Two

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." Galatians 5:16-17 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24 In the last post, 'Do Not Forget', God reminded me just how often I place other things and other people in front of Him. In writing that post, He refreshed my mind and heart in knowing how involved He wants to be in every aspect of my life... if I would just spend time with Him. As Christians, we know this. But, why is it so difficult for us to do this? Why do we find ourselves failing over and over again to spend more time with God? Thankfully, God gives us the answer in the following post. Part 2 begins... Have you ever been on a diet? I don't like diets because I don't do well on them. You know why? I don't like to NOT eat stuff that taste good! :-) Diets mess with my mind, I think. When I know I can't have something, it makes me want to eat it even more! I can be full up to my eyeballs and Canaan will leave a couple of chicken nuggets and you know what? I eat them!!! Why? Why? Why? The answer is lack of self-control (yep, I don't want God to go here any more than you do). But before I can use it in my eating, I must learn to use it in my spiritual life first. Self-control. Not a great topic for us but a necessary one, according to our Lord. This past month, God has opened up my heart to focusing on the fruit of the spirit. He began working with me on self-control. At first, I was confused by this because self-control is the last fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:23. But the more I learned, the more I realized this is the key in strengthening my relationship with God and that's why I needed to begin here. In Galatians 5:16-18, Paul tells us that, as Christians, we must be led by the Holy Spirit. If we are not, we will gratify our own desires, which are sinful. Several places in the Bible, we find Jesus saying that we must 'deny' our self in order to follow Him. Deny, by definition, means 'to restrain oneself from gratification of desires'. I began to think about that and I realized that there is very little that I 'restrain myself' from to follow Christ. What do I deny myself from or when do I exercise self-control with God? God sacrificed His son so that you and I can have a home in Heaven. He wants to be close to me and only asks for my time; Time to worship Him and praise Him before I do something I want to do; Time to ask Him for forgiveness for hurting Him before I need to go somewhere I want to go; Time to offer up my burdens that HE asked me to bring to Him before I spend my time with the very people He put in my life. That, my friends, is simply nothing for me to sacrifice or to deny myself. So, a closer walk with God, (going from an introduction to an intimate friendship) has alot to do with self-control. We must exercise self-control in putting Him first. This is difficult, I know. But God's word tells us that it is difficult because what we want and what God wants is contrary to each other (makes sense of why it's hard sometimes to do the right thing). God tells us we will feel this controversy, but we must choose Him. We can't afford to have distance between us and God, so this is extremely important. When we want to watch TV to wind down at night, we must go to God first. When we want to eat in the morning or get ready, we should spend the time with Him first. I hope you will join me in thinking about your day and night and finding ways to deny our self something in order to put Him above our wants and desires. If you are a Christian (meaning, you have accepted Christ into your heart as Lord and Savior), and you feel that there is distance between you and God, this is the way to close the gap. 1 John 1:5-6 says, "...this is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." Well, if there is one thing we know Jesus did, it was to spend time with the Father. He made time. Spending time with God was everything to Jesus. It must be everything to us. We will set the DVR or rush home early to prevent missing our favorite show. But, seldom do we deny ourselves or move something or someone out of our way if it threatens to come between the time we have with our Lord. I hope that you and I will exercise that necessary fruit of the spirit: self-control. If we do this, we will 'not forget' Him. If we are tempted to do something else when God is prompting our hearts to spend time with Him, may we remember Calvary... enough said. Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, I want to be close with you. I hate when there is distance between us. And most of all, I hate that I caused the distance. I want to put you ahead of everyone and everything in my life. You have given so much for me. Help me to use this precious gift of self-control in every aspect of my life. i praise and honor you for my every heart beat and my every breath. May I live my life for you alone.