Quiet! Be still!

"He got up, rebuked the wind and said to thewaves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. " Mark 4:39

Remember Jesus' authority this week. When He speaks, His will is done.

In the days of your youth

"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come." Ecclesiastes 12:1

Don't hold off on following Jesus until tomorrow, tomorrow never comes. Follow Him whole heartily now. Pray whole heartily now. Seek God, study His word, now. The sooner the better, don't put it off or you will never get to it.

Free Audio Books!

Every month ChristianAudio.com offers a free audio book for download, this month is one of my favorite books, and something I would encourage everyone to read:

The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"What can the call to discipleship, the adherence to the word of Jesus, mean today to the businessman, the soldier, the laborer, or the aristocrat? What is Jesus' will for us today? Drawing on the Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer answers these timeless questions by providing a seminal reading of the dichotomy between "cheap grace" and "costly grace." "Cheap grace," Bonhoeffer wrote, "is the grace we bestow on ourselves...cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.....Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the girl which must be asked for, the door at which a man must know....It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.'"

They are also offering "Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die" by John Piper, which I have only read some of, but it's by John Piper so it's probably good. This is the first time they have offered two books at once (as far as I know) and this month they were both ones I already owned... oh well.

Enjoy.

What you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

^{Matthew 10:26-33}
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. ²⁸And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³²So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

We are called to proclaim the Gospel, fearlessly. Are you ashamed of Christ? Ask your self this daily. Look at your actions and motives. How many lost and dying people did you proclaim the hope of Christ to today?

I'm not saying you should act on your own will, without being led by the Spirit, but perhaps if you step out in boldness, as God so often commands, the Spirit will go with you, He will guide you, and He will talk through you.

Remember:

^"1And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ²For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Remember to pray for them

"far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you" 1 Sam 12:23

"praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints" Eph. 6:18

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people" 1 Tim 2:1

For those who don't know what supplication is:

Supplication –noun

an act or instance of supplicating; humble prayer, entreaty, or petition.
(I'll be honest, I only assumed what it meant before actually looking it up.)

Be in prayer for one another. Pray for your enemies, pray for your leaders (Christian and not), pray for the lost, pray for your family, pray for your your brothers and sisters in Christ, pray for those who have hurt you, and pray for those who bless you. Pray for all people, lest you "should sin against the Lord". Seek God on their behalf. Live a life of prayer. God will meet you, He will do amazing things.

Almighty

"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.'" Rev. 1:17-18

This week remember our God's amazing power. He holds all things and is above all. In Him we have nothing to fear.
Keep Christ above everything in your life. For He is supreme and worthy of all praise. And remember "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Rom. 8:31

Repent and God's grace be with you.

Where do you get your water?

"for My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and dug out wells for themselves, broken wells that can hold no water." Jer. 2:13

Where do you get your provision? Are you accepting God's free gifts, or working hard to get things in your own strength?

Let us repent for trying to do things in our own strength and drink from His grace filled waters.