Love you all, praying for you,
I just love God’s Word. It’s real, it’s practical. And it’s truths are not always at face value, not always on the surface. Sometimes you need to dig a little deeper and apply principles across the board. Have you ever heard someone use the phrase ‘tough love’? We think of tough love – as the discomfort of confronting someone, or not letting a child get away with what they want to do. But tough love is also, when love is tough, when it’s tough to love. In some ways, love doesn’t start until someone does something to wrong you, or hurt your feelings. It’s easy to love those who love you. God said even the worldly do that… It’s easy to love those who always treat you well. It’s harder to love someone who treats you poorly, selfishly, or unfairly. How open are you to forgive? Does it take a while? It’s heartbreaking the televised court scenes of relatives of victims letting loose on the perpetrators vowing never to forgive them and wishing that they rot in jail, or in hell. Perfectly understandable as a feeling, but one that God says will affect you more than the one you direct it against. Unforgiveness always affects you more than them. They are what they are, they did what they did, and God said He will bring justice, He said vengeance belongs to Him. But as for you – the danger of unforgiveness – even beyond the medical proof of resulting physical and mental illness – is that unforgiveness could prevent God from forgiving you. At the end of the LORD’s Prayer Jesus gave this instruction. “…Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, neither will your Father in heaven forgive yours.” Jesus gave an example of a servant who was forgiven a great debt that he couldn’t pay back, and went right out and put a man in jail for not paying a very small debt that was owed to him. The master was quite unhappy, it didn’t end well for that wicked servant. Loving people is easy if they are lovable. Love is tough when you are called to love the unlovely. God even said, love your enemies, do good to those who do not do good to you. Ephesians 4:2 – God said this is how people will know that we are Christ’s followers – if we have love for each other. Not just what we do for each other to love them, but what we do when we disappoint each other. Sometimes love starts when you have the opportunity to forgive, to overlook faults. Will you? Will you believe the best, and forgive others when they are less than kind or righteous toward you? Or do you just love those who always treat you in the best way. You’ll have very few friends if any. Those who have been forgiven much love much. That’s why it’s good to remember God’s great forgiveness for you. Not to go back and take up the burden of guilt that God saved you from, but to remember how much He’s forgiven you – much more than you could ever have against any person you know. Will you forgive? Will you love, when love is tough? The best way to practice is forgiving your spouse, your siblings, your friends. If you don’t learn to forgive and love well, those closest to you – how will you ever love your enemies when that opportunity comes your way, and it will. Praying that you will review the PRISM Topic – Forgive, and the Relationship Topic – Forgiveness and Restoration. God gives us opportunities to love those closest to us. The more you do it, the less tough it becomes. Love you all, dad
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Love you all, praying for you,
I just love God’s Word. It tells you what success is. And how to get it. Have you ever thought of this? What makes you successful? What is success? People have differing definitions. Some define success as accomplishing goals and dreams. Doing what you said you would do. Some people count success as a good life. Some believe success is being rich and famous, accomplished and respected. (By whom?) Some people count success as just living til they’re thirty. Webster said - The favorable or prosperous termination of any thing attempted; which answers the purpose intended. Successful – terminating in accomplishing what is wished or intended, having the desired effect. Well, that could apply to a successful bank robbery, but is that success? What do you think success is? And whose definition really counts – is it just up to each person? How many have pursued success their whole life, and then had a career or life change. There’s even a name for it – midlife crisis, or a positive change the mental shift of desire from “success to significance.” The problem with success definitions… they can change over time. You may have pursued something your whole life, only to find, it was actually pretty empty. God said it this way, What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul. Some have been driven by a lust for success, and ended up losing their family. Or their reputation, as they forfeited their character and good name. In pursuit of wealth, they compromised with dishonest gain. So what is success? And what is the foundation of it. I won’t tell you what success is… God will reveal it (only His definition really counts). But I will give you a hint. It has to do with your Creator – and what He created you for. Here’s the first step - Humility and the fear of the LORD – bring wealth, honor, and life. Psalms 112:1 – Praise the LORD. Blessed are those who fear the LORD, who find great delight in his commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in their house, and their righteousness endures forever. Wealth without honor is empty, wealth and honor without life, is worthless, wealth that doesn’t last is futile. Success in this world can be short lived, a flash in the pan – despite years of hard labor – it can be gone in an instant. But humility and the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. And wisdom has reward! Proverbs 8:18 – With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. So clearly success is more than just money. Wisdom, not false wisdom, God’s wisdom, so don’t get punked. Here is the secret of success: The foundation of lasting success. Joshua 1:8 – This book of the law (This Word of God) shall not depart from your mouth, (don’t just read it, speak it, declare it, commit yourself to it with your own mouth)… you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then, you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Success in that which is good, not that which is evil. Lasting success, not temporary, unchanging, unending – success. God’s Word is the foundation for all success. It defines it, and instructs you in it. It gives you the secrets you need to know to walk in it. Success starts with how you think. And God’s Word transforms how you think. If you have the mind of Christ, the mind of the LORD, His instruction, His wisdom, Absolute truth, and His advice – your life is then built for success, footer by footer, wall by wall, brick by brick. The success that comes from the unchanging truth of God’s Word – is eternal. Success is in this Book. It's what will outlast every fad, every delusion, every deception. It was written for your success! It’s free – you can get it on a phone app. So why do so many people neglect it. They are like the guy who died penniless on his farm after a lifetime of labor – when all that time there were millions of dollars of oil, just beneath the surface of the ground that he walked on for years. Success is really hidden in plain sight. God’s Word was written for your success. Praying that you won’t die, without drilling for it. You could live like a millionaire your whole life, or be completely oblivious of its presence. Success is what God has for you – you just need to go where you find it. Praying that PRISM - those five things you can do each day (that keep you in God’s Word which guarantees your success) becomes your daily practice, so success will be your life and legacy – that you can pass on to your children and children’s children. Love you all, dad Love you all, praying for you,
I just love God’s Word – it gives you practical steps for your success in life. Just a quick reminder… Praying that you will seek God for His PiVAT Monthly for you this month! The plans He has already prepared for you! And praying that you will take the time to complete PiVAT Monthly for last month – to write down all the things that God did when you obeyed, and the things He revealed through His Word, and others – as you are pursuing a life fully devoted to Him. His life is so way better than anything you could imagine. God has a plan for your life. He has plans for you! Big plans, wonderful plans. And to walk in the plans He has for your future, you have to know and walk in His plans for you now! Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you, to prosper you, not harm you, to give you hope, and a future. God’s plans – He knows, but in order for you to know them, you’ll need to ask. PiVAT Monthly helps you ask. And helps you come back to them throughout the month – so you are sure to finish everything He told you to do. It also is a place to write down the testimony of what He did. It’s what you overcome with! James 4:13 – Come now you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make a profit.” Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow? … Instead you ought to say, whatever the LORD's will is – that’s what we will do (this thing or that thing). The requirement of a purpose–fulfilled life is to know His plans for this year, and this month, even this week and today. He has plans for you even in this hour! He knows them, You just need to ask… He will surely tell you, He promised. Praying that you will take the time for PiVAT monthly this month. So like David (Acts 13:22), God will say of you. I have found (you!) a man after my own heart, he will do everything I want Him to do. Praying that your PiVAT Monthly for this month - will overflow with His testimony and His victory in the next thirty days. So you walk in every good thing He has planned for you! Love you all, dad Love you all, praying for you,
I just love God’s Word. It sets you free. Jesus is the Word, the Word of God in human form. And Jesus sets you free. There are two kinds of free. Nothing is free it costs somebody… but the first kind of free is “at no cost to you.” The second kind of free is ‘no longer controlling you.’ What once controlled you, has no effect on you anymore. There are some good frees. Free ice cream. Again, nothing is free, but sometimes someone else pays for it. Sometimes you get a free sandwich at Chick Fil A – if you dress up for cow day… That’s kinda cool. But there are way better frees than that! Have you ever been Pain free? Have you ever been Guilt free? Drug free? Debt Free? Fear-free? Sin-free? Every one of those frees – God has for you. Every free you can imagine – God has for you. Jesus is the Savior, and the Healer, He’s the Deliverer and the Provider. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Do you need to be free of something? God can set you free. If you haven’t received Jesus as your Savior, and your LORD, you cannot be free. You are bound by sin, born in it – it controls you, because nothing stronger has defeated it, and replaced it. God can set you free. Will He? Of course. If you ask, and believe, and choose the grace to say no to what once bound you. He sets you free from sin! You can sin again, but you don’t have to. Once you receive Jesus as your Savior (saved from sin), and your LORD (His grace so you don’t go back), and His Spirit – (to lead you in a better way, the path He has for you), you can be free for life. What once controlled you, no longer controls you. You’ve under new management, you’ve got a new Master, and His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. Freedom has two parts. God’s part and your part. God sets you free through His Son dying in your place. You receive it by faith in Jesus, and by walking in the Spirit, and choosing the grace to say no to what once controlled you – That grace is now available to you always! Galatians 5:1 – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Sin’s yoke is heavy. But Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Praying that you will walk in the freedom that Jesus died for - today. You have been set free! Don’t go back to slavery. Use your faith to walk in freedom. And even that is not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. The faith you can use to walk in the Freedom Jesus purchased for you, didn’t even come from you… God gave it to you! As He has given every man a measure of faith…. The more you exercise it, the stronger it grows. There’s nothing like being free. Jesus is the Word, and His Word will set you free. To walk in freedom, Receive Jesus, Receive the Holy Spirit, Choose the grace to say no – to any other yoke that tries to get you back. You don’t have to. God set you free! Then, stay in His Word – it will build your faith, and keep you free. Faith and Freedom go together, walk in one, and you’ll walk in other. Put your faith in Jesus. Praise Him for the freedom that He gives. You’ve been set free! Romans 8:32 – He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things? They say the best things in life are free. They cost Jesus a lot, but they are free to you. The only cost to you, is your faith in Him, and a life devoted to him. If you do, you’ll always be free, for the rest of your life, and for eternity after that! He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Freedom is what God has for you! Love you all, dad |
AuthorKelly Kamentz - Jesus follower, husband, father, and friend, helping others surrender time, thoughts, money, and testimony, to fulfill their purpose! Archives
April 2024
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