Spending Time with God

Spend Time with God
                                       

                                                                                         Return to Main Menu

                                                           To follow A Daily Thought click>>>

We go out of our way to spend time with friends with we love.  It shows we love and care about the relationship we have with them.

In the same manner, God wants a Personal Relationship with us and wants us to spend time with Him too.

There are two things on a personal basis we do to develop our Personal Relationship with God.  Prayer and Bible Study- It is the most effective method to develop our Personal Relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

God shows us clearly in our Bible Study He loves us.  God, who can do anything in this universe, and of all the things He did do He sent His Son to us, because He loves us and wanted us to know the True way to live.

John 3:16 KJV

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish ,
 but have everlasting life.

<< John 3:15John 3:16John 3:17 >>

Read John 3:16 in contextRead John 3View in parallelInterlinear viewCompare Translations

He is the best friend we could ever have.  We like to talk to our friends, we should feel the same with God.  In prayer we communicate with God, out of those prayers, we listen, In listening, we learn to trust His timing to answer our prayers and in His timing, we Trust Him all the more. 

Jesus came to Save us, if nothing more than our selfish selves.  But, truly it is more than that.  Jesus too wants our love. His love was expressed on the cross.  He died showing us how to live, to live for God and live for Him.  We have to get over our selfish selves and love and live for God and Jesus. We do that as our Personal Relationship with God bears fruit.   But, there is more.  Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to help sustain us daily in our journey of a Personal Relationship with Him and God.

God and Jesus knew we cannot walk the talk of Jesus' teachings by ourselves, we need help.  In John 16*, Jesus predicted the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples.  And Jesus delivered the Holy Spirit to the Disciples after His resurrection.  When the disciples were gathered and most troubled after Jesus' death, Jesus came to them.  In a second, in receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples went from being scared little boys in John 20, to men ready to die for the teachings and Life of Jesus.  In our Relationship with God we should feel the same.   

John 20:

21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

But, that is not the end of receiving the Holy Spirit.  In our acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior, St. Paul tells us that we too receive the Holy Spirit!

Romans 8: 6-16

6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neitherindeed can be .8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if anyman have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christfrom the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.12Therefore , brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die : but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live .14For as many  (us) as are led by the Spirit of God, they  (we)  are the sons of God.15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry , Abba, Father.16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

<< Romans 8:5Romans 8:6-16Romans 8:17 >>

Read Romans 8View in parallelInterlinear viewCompare Translations

God and Jesus, truly loves us so very much to provide to each and every one of us the Holy Spirit, God Spirit's.  He predicted this for the disciples and the Holy Spirit comes also to us.  We receive the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

The Holy Spirit dwells within us to guide us, comfort us, and help us each and everyday, just as it did with the disciples.  We seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit through our humble prayers, seeking to live as Christ lived and taught, and the feeling of being nudged in certain directions, sometimes new to us.  We understand Jesus better though Bible Study and prayers.  This, all because of the Holy Spirit's Guidance giving us Wisdom in our vision of the Holy Scriptures.

  

So, it is clear, God and Jesus wants a relationship with His children.  In accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior we receive the Holy Spirit!  In our humility of humble prayers and Bible study we know Them better.  In our prayers we further demonstrate our faith and Trust in God/Jesus, and in those prayers we seek our Personal Relationship with with Them. 

But truly in our prayers daily, in our Relationship with God and Jesus be become more open to the Guidance of the Holy Spirit.

If you have to, go out of your way and Spend Time with God.  To fully feel the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, Pray and Pray and Pray .......  EVERYDAY, ..... OFTEN EVERYDAY.  In praying often everyday, you will soon learn, it is not out of your way to Spend Time with God.

Prayer, done right in humility, will truly most assuredly change your life. 

Finally,  One more thought:  We have Prayer, Bible Study, and the Holy Spirit to help us and lead us in our Personal Relationship with God and Jesus.  One more element does exists to help us.  Find a Worship Experience, commonly know as a church, that has preaching, prayer, and Bible Study that leads to and outwardly speaks of  a Personal Relationship with God.  

Thanks Be to God

TB2G

Please Join 'A Daily Thought Group' on Facebook.  
It is designed to be an uncluttered library of only ‘A Daily Thought’ postings.  

 Thanks and God Bless.

Click Here to go to  "A DAILY THOUGHT GROUP"

   Return to Main Menu

==============================

*  John 16: 5-16

The Work of the Holy Spirit

5  "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'6  Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.7  But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.8  When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:9  in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;10  in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;11  and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.12  "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.16"In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."

Sharing these messages

You are welcome to share these messages.  You can send the links to your friends,  copy and insert the link on FB or you can print the message and share it with your friends.

You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie

Publication  0198

intro
Just as we are with our best friends, God truly loves you and His very real desire is to have a Close Personal Relationship with you.  Clink the link below for some thoughts on how to make that happen.  Share on your fb page as you feel lead to do so and check my FB page for more 'thoughts'.
http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2014/01/spending-time-with-god.html

Jesus: The Master of Obedience

Jesus:                                                                                                     Return to Main Menu
   The Master of Obedience

This writing is a bit longer than most and is written in two parts to provide a break in the reading.  Both parts are in this document rather than two documents as I have done in other of my longer writings.

There is something about the word 'obedience' we do not like, yet, down deep in our innermost soul we know the behavior represented by that word is good for us.  

A Young Man Learns Obedience, the hard way.
A young man in my middle school classroom went to the bathroom everyday for the first five days of class understanding my rule about having only five bathroom visits during my class for the whole semester.  Beginning on the third day I reminded Steven that he better manage his bathroom visits or he would not like the way I would manage them.  On the fifth day I told him there would be no more bathroom visits during my class unless he brought a doctor's note indicating he had a medical problem requiring unlimited visits.  The next day, he brought a note from his mother indicating she had given him permission to leave my room anytime he wanted to for a bathroom visit and could disregard my instructions to the contrary.  Containing my laughter, I smiled and asked him, "Is your mother a medical doctor?" and  "No," was his answer.  "Well you cannot go to the bathroom, and if you do so without my permission, I will send you to the control room."  It was amazing to see the power of my few words; he never again had to go to the bathroom.  But in reality, Steven just decided to be obedient to avoid punishment.


The fullness of being obedient was something I learned at home.  And, it became far more than selfishly following directions to avoid punishment.  Now, in my early years, my daddy or mother on rare occasions took a paddle or a switch to me (a small freshly pulled pliable tree limb devoid of leaves), but I do not think I learned real obedience from that. Of course,  as a young child, I did not like the punishment of a spanking and especially not the switching (mother's favorite).  But, as I grew, I came to realize I disliked my inner feeling of failing my father when he had spanked me more so than the spanking as punishment.  As time passed, the bad feeling I felt was my understanding of failure to love my mother and dad enough to do what they asked.   What I came to understand is what they asked of me was good for my overall good and well being.  As children we have to learn to follow directions for our own good, for as adults, in many cases, we do the same, for our own good; in both cases, to avoid punishment.  But, with mother and dad, the desire to follow their directions (their will) came because of their love for me, not in fear of what they might do to me.   I came to truly understand "Father Knows Best".  It is the same with our love for God!   I really came to more fully understand all of this in becoming a parent.

Our Selfishness in Our Obedience

As a parent, when my son was maturing, I wanted him to follow my will for him because he loved me, not because of any punishment that may come from me (*1).  It is the same with God.

Most people understand the importance of being obedient, at least when they know the ramifications and desiring to avoid the bad consequences.  But, in our maturity we come to realize that being obedient more often brings good consequences for us and we become obedient for the positive rewards we receive.  If we follow a supervisor's directions at our work, usually we advance in our job, that is a positive reward, but the behavior has a selfish component in it.  Further, if we take the initiative, and see what needs to be done and do it, we usually are rewarded and recognized for what we have done.  With that comes not only the good feeling of getting the job done but sometimes many other rewards come such as respect of people around you.  But, some of this still contains selfishness and from that, pride too easily slips into our behavior.  The element of "what's in it for me?" attitude can still reside in our behavior.  

========================================
Part 2: What Jesus teaches us in His Example
================================

Now, do you think selfishness is why Jesus was obedient, even unto death?  I hope not!

Jesus was the Master of Obedience, and it was not for selfish reasons.

Real Godly obedience in following God's will in our behavior and our thinking comes from our maturing love for God, and that comes from our Trusting God.   This is the example of Jesus, the Perfect Leader.  In John 4:24 (see below in context) Jesus says, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work."  This means that for Jesus, His very essence, His very basis for living, His fundamental reason to exist was to do the Will of God!   Because God loves us and He know what is best for us, we should want the same!  This is what Jesus desired for his life and doing the Will of God is what Jesus desires for our life!  He is our Perfect Example.  However, for Jesus, Obedience came at an extreme cost, and He understood His cost long before the payment was made, yet He remained and persevered in being obedient!

Obedience 
      Without the Threat of Punishment

Perhaps the most amazing behavior of Jesus is His Obedience and in His obedience He persevered in His Self-Control (*2).  Imagine the Self-Control as He had to live with the human limitations of choice and at the same time limit His use of His power to affect, change, and directly control anything earthly He desired.  In His Self-Control, He chose to be Obedient to what God sent Him to earth to do- Set the Example to us on how to live, and be the Perfect Sacrifice for us to live in Grace, despite our sin!  In that Obedience He chose to never once, not one time to ever use His power to selfishly affect himself.  He never used his power to get Himself out of situations dangerous to Himself.  Jesus never used His power for any self gratification or self advancement.  Imagine the power to change anything He wanted and never used it for Himself.  He was always sacrificially living in God's will for His life void of any and all selfishness, even when others presented Him great temptations.  It is no wonder He prayed often.  

To achieve His Father's goals for His life He depended on His relationship with God and the gained strength He found therein.  To keep and develop the obedient relationship with His Father, He prayed often and without distractions in being alone.  In His desires came the Loving Obedience to do God's Will, He wanted to complete the mission God had for Him, and to do this, in His love of and for God He continued His prayers through His close personal relationship with His Father.

Learning to Love God

We live daily but survive eternally because of God.  God gives us the air to breathe, grows our food, causes the rain to replenish our water supply, the earth to revolve and rotate giving us seasons; all this supplying our needs and then adds to our basic needs His Saving Grace through Jesus Christ.   My parents saw to my needs in my early years, taught me how to live, and taught me how to have Righteous goals in life.  In these gifts of my parents I learned to obey first because of the fear of punishment, then love them because they loved me, and finally to be obedient because I loved them.  Even after leaving home, I desired to have a personal relationship with them, just as Jesus did with His heavenly Father.  I learned to live in part, not to disappoint my parents following the example of Jesus in living not to disappoint His Father.

In the same manner we should learn to love God.  In the beginning we may fear God, and that is not a bad thing, but when we see God for the ultimate provider He really is, we come to love Him just as Jesus did!  Our love for God builds because of a developed personal relationship with Him; and just as with Jesus, it takes communication through our prayers to achieve that relationship and in that relationship we come to be obedient to Him BECAUSE we love HIM.  We love God Not because of any threats, we love both God and Jesus because of what they did and do for us, out of their love for us!  In that, we should desire and seek to be obedient.  

In Jesus Christ, we have the Perfect Example of obedience.  We will never be perfect in our Obedience, but with a prayerful relationship with Jesus and God we can have the same desire as Jesus, the desire to love God, the desire for a personal relationship with God, and the great desire to be obedient to Him in that loving relationship.  Through that relationship of love, our repentance and His forgiveness, we then have eternal life with God, beginning now.

As we seek God for our lives, we do learn out of our love for Him, "Father Really Does Know Best".

Thanks be to God.

© Lonnie Coggins        
                            Return to Main Menu

    

                                                                   

==============================

Sharing these messages

You are welcome to share these messages.  You can send the links to your friends,  copy and insert the link on FB or Christian.com or you can print the message and share it with your friends.

You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins

ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie 

Publication  0116

John 4:
29"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ ?"30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."32But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."33Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"34"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.35Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.37Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true.38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

Many Samaritans Believe

39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."
REFERENCES
*1  My son was a great kid, never once did I ever have to spank him, mother only once.  He is a greater father, three times.  I do not know how he and his wife do it....But, the do depend on God, that really is the answer.
*2  'Self-Control', part of the Gift of the Spirit, Galatians 5:23

10 Differences Between Religion and “The Personal Relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit” 10c

       10 Differences Between Religion and
       “The Personal Relationship" with
        God,   Jesus,   and the Holy Spirit” 

                                                         Return to Main Menu

1       Religion Stresses developing beliefs through
         formulas, “how-to”, and regulations,
”The Personal Relationship” 
         stresses commitments of the heart.

2       Religion teaches guidance FOR our lives,
“The Personal Relationship” 
         places in us the Guidance we need IN our lives.

3       Religion stresses our imposing order on our lives,
“The Personal Relationship" 
         gives the desire for the Covenant of order in our lives.

4       Religion stresses 
              the elements of the Bible on how to live our lives,
“The Personal Relationship” 
        provides those elements to build up our lives.

5       Religion leads us to Questions about rules
“The Personal Relationship” 
         leads us to answers about life.

6       Religion gives us information that tell us what to do,
“The Personal Relationship” 
         gives us God’s knowledge of what to do.

7       Religion many times stifles and robs us of our 
              more complete understanding of Gods Blessings,
"The Personal Relationship" 
         allows us to reach out and accept 
                 more than a meager amount of His Blessings.

8       Religion brings God’s people together in 
             community fellowship,  This is good but
“The Personal Relationship” 
        brings people to God in His Fellowship, 
              Community fellowship will come.

9       The Personal Relationship is by far 
            more important than religion, but in
"The Personal Relationship"
      it better sustains us in a 
           church or religious institution. 
      It can be difficult to maintain 
         "The Personal Relationship" 
                by, in, and through only ourselves.
"The Personal Relationship" with God
      is maintained by:
      Bible Study, Prayer, and
              Fellowship and Worship with those 
                       who have a Personal Relationship.

10    Without
  "The Intimate Personal Relationship" with 
          God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in our lives,
              what we mostly have is just religion.

Thanks be to God

© lonnie coggins

   Return to Main Menu

==============================

Sharing these messages

You are welcome to share these messages.  You can send the links to your friends,  copy and insert the link on FB or Christian.com or you can print the message and share it with your friends.

You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins

ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

lonnie 

Book Report, "The Will of God" by Leslie D Weatherhead

   "The Will of God"

                                                                      Return to Main Menu

By Dr. Leslie D. Weatherhead
A Book Report

In times of life's trouble we must be prepared to handle the trouble.  In this message is a link to a poem about "Storms in our Lives".  The point of the poem is we must study God's word and come to a True Personal Relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit, to be prepared to give our storms up to God.  Storms are most difficult when we are not prepared.  The "Will of God" by By Dr. Leslie D. Weatherhead goes deep in his model, for the Will of God for our lives.

 

It is ok to feel a bit shaken but rest assured we have a God of love and He will never leave your side.  I am testimony to this.  Just know the Truth, the Holy Spirit is with you and within you everyday.  Life is better if you live everyday with that knowledge internalized, drawn to the depth of your soul so Personal Relationship with Gos is (or grows to) what your are.

It is sometimes difficult to understand life and God's Will in our lives, and feel the Holy Spirit in our lives when we are not totally prepared for the tragedies in life we must face.  It is hard to be totally prepared.  But, we must pray daily to understand and be in God’s Will.  Understanding is the difficult part.  "The Will of God" will help you in that understanding.

This model of God’s Will comes from a minister in England in five sermons he gave in the midst of WWII in 1943, a time of  horrific tragedy in England.   Dr. Leslie D Weatherhead presented his model of God’s will in our lives and I believe it has stood the test of time.  His book, “The Will of God” has sold millions since then and has been in continuous print since its first printing during WWII.

Dr. Weatherhead’s model or explanation of Gods Will falls in three parts.

1-     God’s Ultimate Will

2-     God’s Intentional Will

3-     God’s Circumstantial Will.

The first two are more directly and easier to understand.

God’s Ultimate Will is the Will of God that will always prevail.  God is in control and what He has set forth in all things will ultimately rule everything.

God’s Intentional Will starts getting into the arena where we as humans can affect our lives.  God’s Intentional Will is what God wants for us in our lives.  But, we can ignore it, we can adopt it on Sunday, or we can try to live continuously in His Intentional Will as Christ did live.   Part of God’s Will is for us to live a life with the Holy Spirit as our Guiding Force.  In Star War’s, the first episode filmed, when Luke Skywalker was going to destroy  the ‘Death Star’ he lost his man-made guidance system, and through the spirit of Obe Won Kenobe he felt “May the force be with you.”  Even when I was not daily praying in the Holy Spirit,  the Holy Spirit in our lives is what came to mind.  In God’s Intentional Will, it is God’s desire that we let the Force, the Holy Spirit, be with us and fill our lives everyday.  How? Through prayer and Bible Study.

God’s Intentional Will will not always prevail.  We in our lives can choose to be apart from God, either totally or temporarily.  Many of us choose to allow God to be a part of lives on Sunday, and live our lives away from Him the rest of the week.  It is God’s Intentional will for us to be in his Spirit every moment of every day.  The choice is ours.  We just have to remember, regardless of our will, His Ultimate Will will prevail.

Finally, there is God’s Circumstantial Will.  This is the hard one and most difficult to accept and where we get in the most trouble.  It involves the choices in our lives that we make.  In this short review, I think it is best only to give some examples of God's Circumstantial Will. In his book, Dr. Weatherhead has an extensive explanation.

God has set up rules for our lives.  We must live within the confines of these rules and when we don’t we often suffer many different consequences.  Just as I as a teacher have certain Procedures and Protocols (rules) for my classroom, we must learn as my students do.  When we do not live by the rules, bad stuff happens.  The consequences are rarely to our liking and experience is the wisdom we know and learn from living through consequences of our life's decisions.  It is sad that we often do not respect what we learn and make the same mistakes over and over expecting different results.

When my son at 12 years old fell off the timber scaffolding of a Boy Scout made Ferris wheel as the frame was suddenly coming apart, he nearly died on the spot.  My years of panic control I learned in the Air Force kicked in and I immediately went to work.  Later, I prayed thanking God for giving me the experience and understanding to deal with the tragedy in a successful manner.  I knew it was NOT God’s Intentional Will that the Ferris wheel to collapse, but the Circumstantial Will and it consequences came into effect when one of the other scouts accidentally removed the main axle pin that maintained the stability of the wheel.  My son missed being killed by about one inch.  The main cross beam just barely nicked him as that beam and the main vertical support fell on his legs and broke both bones in his lower left leg and broke the foot in the other leg. 

After my sons legs healed, we had another tragedy when my son fell off the lawnmower at my mother’s house and his foot went up into the discharge shoot while the motor was still running.  After over 15 operations his foot healed almost as good as new.  All this in a similar manner was the Circumstantial Will of God.  God did not intend for Anthony to get hurt on the lawnmower or the Ferris wheel.  But, when a person pulled the pin on the Ferris wheel axle at the wrong time or the city of Kannapolis left a soft place in the dirt for the steering wheel to throw Antony off the lawnmower, well, mess happened.  We have to be careful in our daily lives or we suffer the consequences of the Circumstantial Will of God.   

We as humans continue to fail to totally understand this Circumstantial Will.  We do not always understand why a particular event had to happen.  But, bad things do happen to us.  It is something we have to accept and be prepared to deal with.  I have been helped many times by this book, I hope is will help prepare you for life's circumstances as it has me.  But, remember, to know the Holy Spirit, pray often.... everyday, and Study God's Word.

Can be purchased at:  http://www.amazon.com/Will-God-Leslie-Weatherhead/dp/0687074827

price:  $8 plus shipping.

It has been in continuous publication since 1943, close to one million sold.

Praise God and
Thanks be to God.
     even in times of our greatest trouble
        2nd Thessalonians 5:15-25


© Lonnie

                                                                      Return to Main Menu

==============================

Sharing these messages

You are welcome to share these messages.  You can send the links to your friends,  copy and insert the link on FB or Christian.com or you can print the message and share it with your friends.

You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins

ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

lonnie