Be a "will be"
by Jeffrey Smith January 11th, 2016
2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Are you a has been, or a will be? I have referred to myself in the past as a this or a that. For example, I was a collegiate athlete, and that is great, but it does not define who I am now. I used to drink a lot, but it does not define me today. I have talked with a lot of people who are...
Dry Bones Live
by Jeffrey Smith January 8th, 2016
Ezekiel 37:1-3: The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, Son of man, can these bones live? I said, O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.
We all have a call on our lives from...
Value
by Jeffrey Smith January 6th, 2016
Luke 5:27-28, 30: After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. Follow me, Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 30- But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?
I was on a run in the battlefield park near...
Reach out to Him
by Jeffrey Smith January 5th, 2016
Mark 5:25-34- A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, If I just touch his clothes,...
Fools for Christ
by Jeffrey Smith January 4th, 2016
2 Samuel 6:22: I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.
When we allow ourselves to let go of our perception of dignity, in exchange for worship that goes beyond our limits, we will never be in a position of dishonor. We can often get caught up in the idea that we are above a certain level...
Invite the Lord in!
by Jeffrey Smith December 31st, 2015
2 Samuel 6:11-18: The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. Now King David was told, The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God. So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with rejoicing.
Do you want...
God's Way
by Jeffrey Smith December 28th, 2015
2nd Samuel 14:14-Like water spilled on the ground that can never be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him.Isaiah 59:2- But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.John 19:28- Later, knowing that all was now completed, and...
The Father's Love in us
by Jeffrey Smith December 22nd, 2015
1 John 4:16-18: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. the one who fears is not made...
Our Works are from Jesus
by Jeffrey Smith December 16th, 2015
James 2:17- In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.Ephesians 2:10: For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
I have spent an enormous amount of time focusing on the word of God that liberates those oppressed by not seeing themselves as good enough for salvation in Jesus Christ. They feel...
Beast of burden
by Jeffrey Smith December 15th, 2015
Isaiah 46:1- Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. Isaiah 46:6,7: Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out...
Jesus our defender
by Jeffrey Smith December 11th, 2015
Acts 9:1-3: Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell...
The Perfect Gift
by Jeffrey Smith December 10th, 2015
James 1:17: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the heavenly lights who does not change like the shifting shadows.Philippians 2:13: for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Have you ever given a gift to someone or done what you perceive as a good work, and then found out later that it missed the mark? For years I would go around looking...
Life in Jesus
by Jeffrey Smith December 5th, 2015
Isaiah 29:13-14: The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. Philippians 3:3-6:For it is we who are the...
No Weapon forged
by Jeffrey Smith December 1st, 2015
Isaiah 54:17: No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me," Declares the Lord.Collossians 1:21-23:Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death...
Take it off your shoulders
by Jeffrey Smith November 30th, 2015
Matthew 11:28-30: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Jesus wants us to find rest in Him. One of the biggest ways to be outside of that rest is to be stressed. When we are stressed about something, we...
Sharing your Faith
by Jeffrey Smith November 24th, 2015
Philemon verses 6-7: I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. 1 Thessalonians 5:11: Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
One of my favorite...
We are guarded
by Jeffrey Smith November 23rd, 2015
Isaiah 27:1-5: The Lord will punish with His sword, His fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; He will slay the monster of the sea. In that day-- Sing about a fruitful vineyard; I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually, I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting...
Contempt for the offering
by Jeffrey Smith November 20th, 2015
Samuel 2:15-16: But even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw. If the man said to him, Let the fat be burned up first, and then take whatever you want, the servant would then answer, No hand it over now; if you don’t, I'll take it by force....
tithe the first fruits
by Jeffrey Smith November 17th, 2015
Samuel 1:27- I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there.
Hannah is a great example of faith, prayer, blessing, and fulfillment of a promise. A lot of times we can go through struggles in areas of our lives that can be very difficult. If you have an area...
Rest in Jesus
by Jeffrey Smith November 16th, 2015
Psalm 110:1- The Lord says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father (Colossians 3:1, Ephesians 1:20). For those of us who accept Jesus Christ, our lives are now hidden in Him (Colossians 3:3). We too have rest at the right hand of God the Father.Right now, we are all at war. There is a very real war going on...
Choose wisely
by Jeffrey Smith November 12th, 2015
Luke 10:38-41: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lords feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, dont you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help...
Who are we listening to?
by Jeffrey Smith November 11th, 2015
2nd Timothy 1:7-For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Go boldly into anything you face. Experience often dictates our fears and our aversions to things that are valuable. You would think the greatest goals and achievements are guarded by an army of giants meant to keep you away from the finish line. On a recent training ride on my bicycle,...
Send away the slave
by Jeffrey Smith November 10th, 2015
Galatians 4:28-31- Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son. Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the...
Rend your heart
by Jeffrey Smith November 9th, 2015
Joel 2:13- Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
God our Father is interested in our hearts, and not our appearance. Tearing your clothes when something happened that was catastrophic or considered a blaspheme was commonplace among the Pharisees. What scripture...
300
by Jeffrey Smith November 5th, 2015
Judges 7:2- The Lord said to Gideon, You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her
Judges 7:13-Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. I had a dream, he was saying. A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent...
God is Sovereign
by Jeffrey Smith November 4th, 2015
Romans 9:30-32- What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. Galatians 1: 6-7-I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one...
Run your race
by Jeffrey Smith October 28th, 2015
1 Corinthians 9:24: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.Hebrews 12:1: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Philippians 4:6-7: Be anxious for nothing,...
Radiance
by Jeffrey Smith October 27th, 2015
Deuteronomy 34:7: Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.Exodus 34:34-35: But to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelite's what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Moses would then put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord....
Remission
by Jeffrey Smith October 22nd, 2015
Matthew 26:27-28: Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.John 6:53: Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Jesus is our life. He is our sustainer and maintainer. We...
Less is more
by Jeffrey Smith October 20th, 2015
John 3:30: He must become greater; I must become lessJohn 3:30: He must become greater; I must become less
This is not a typo. I intentionally wrote that scripture out twice. This is what our Lord spoke to me the other day at the farmers market with my son Jackson. We spent the day together and we went through the long lines of different area farm's displays until we found one that had everything...