January 04

Matthew 4:4  But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

Matthew 7:26  But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 

John 1:1  In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

Colossians 2:7- 8  Let your roots grow down into [Christ], and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. 8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 

1 Corinthians 11:32  Now, while we are being judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so we won't be condemned along with the world. 

Titus 3:9  But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

May you be confident that God will not forget you in the place He has put you, nor abandon you in the task that He has given you. Though it feels He has closed you in, and even shut you off from contacts and connections that others enjoy, you can be certain that His hand of guidance and protection is upon you, and you have missed nothing of importance to you, or lost anything of significance for you. Let Him be the Source you turn to for your needs, and count His provision as the indicator of what you need, to distinguish between “need” and “want.”  Genesis 8

May you recall that when sin abounds, even more shall God's grace abound just as the sign of His covenant, the rainbow, is visible when the presence of rain brings up the fear of flooding. Genesis 9

May you be content with what God has given you, at peace with those around you, giving of what you have to those in need, showing God's love and compassion, rejecting the covetousness of material goods and ambition for worldly power that filled Nimrod with unrest and dissatisfaction, causing him to rebel against God. Genesis 10 

   Stay diligent, My child, the time is not yet to lay down the tools or turn in the weapons I have assigned you. 
   I will come and give you refreshings through My Spirit and bring you to greater understandings in My Word, but the march continues, for time is short and the harvest is waiting. 
   Do not look back at past accomplishments, lest pride overtake you, and do not gaze long toward the end of the fields at what remains, lest despair defeat you. 
   Remain attentive and alert for what is at hand that you may hear and obey what My voice is speaking to you.

May you walk in the spirit of repentance, ever mindful of the carnal nature and ever prepared to defeat it by turning from it, whether to the grace and compassion of Jesus or the austerity and sternness of John the Baptist. Matthew 4

May you prefer the diligence of honest labor to the idleness of intemperate riches, that you might learn the practices and disciplines useful to your spiritual walk in Christ. Matthew 4

May you call to the Lord in prayer and seek His mercy, knowing that the Lord, Who is righteous, has set apart the godly for Himself. Psalm 4

May you receive the reproof and respond to the rebuke that Christ, the Wisdom of God, brings into your life, by the Spirit of the Lord, from the Word of God, through the Body of Christ, each confirming the other, speaking loudly and plainly and publicly, declaring the same message to all, using the same standard for each, calling the simple from their love of gullibility, the mockers from their joy of disparaging, and the fools from their pleasurable ignorance. For if you will heed His warning, He will pour out His thoughts to you, bring forth His Spirit in you, and make His words known through you. Proverbs 1:20-23