Humble and Pure of Heart

Purity of Body: Day 36 - Humble and Pure of Heart

Matthew 5:8
God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

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God of my words

Purity of Body: Day 35 - Pure Speech

Ephesians 5:4
Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, Christians have better uses for language than that.  Don't talk dirty or silly.  That kind of talk doesn't fit our style.  Thanksgiving is our dialect.

My words are something that I have had always had a problem with, I talk too much and more often than not I don't think before I speak and this is something that I really feel like God has been challenging me with recently.  Over the last couple of years, I would like to think that I have learnt the power of keep secrets I am entrusted with, and I would also like to think that more often than not I use my words to encourage and build others up.  But I know that there are often times when I say thinks I shouldn't, I seek information that I shouldn't and I choose words that I shouldn't.  Sometimes I ask myself if God was standing with me (which he is anyway, but if I could see it in the flesh) and the answer 9 times out of 10 is no.... So I guess I need to knuckle down and focus on using my tongue better rather than as a weapon of the devil, as harsh as that sounds. 

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Safe, Healthy & Empowered

Purity of Body: Day 34 - Safe, Healthy & Empowered

Titus 2:3-5
Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness.  By looking at them, the younger women will know how o love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives.  We don't want anyone looking down on God's Message because of their behaviour.

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You Are Loved

Purity of Body: Day 33 - You are Loved

Luke 15:20
When he was still a long way off, his father saw him.  His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him.

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Looking for Love

Purity of Body: Day 32 - Looking For Love

Matthew 9:35-36
Jesus made a circuit of al the towns and villages.  He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives.  When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke.  So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd.

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Waiting for Self-discipline

Purity of body: Day 31 - Waiting for Sex

1 Corinthians 6:12-13
Just because something is technically legal doesn't mean that it's spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever i thought i could get by with, I'd be a slave to my whims. You know the old saying, "first you eat to live, and then you live to eat"? Well, it may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that's no excuse fir stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the master honours you with a body, honour him with your body!

So here is the thing... even though the point if this devotion was about waiting for sex, I think what I got out of it was something completely different... I am sure that I have read this verse before but I perhaps not this version (the message) or with my current eyes because I had never put eating the way I do and sex in the same indulgence category.

This past week I have been in Sweden at the World Youth Convention, Raised Up and a lot of the convention was focused on Holiness and what it means to live Holy.  I think one of the things that hit home heaps this week to me was the fact that part of holiness is self-discipline and self-control.  These are two things that I particularly struggle with, especially with my food and something, with my upcoming nuptials, amongst other things I would really like to get more of.  

I guess the good news is that in 2 Timothy is says "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self-discipline", so really this self-discipline that I am seeking is a promise of God's Holy Spirit, so I just have to claim it...

So here I am, God, asking that you would give me some self-discipline, help me to practice this and to honour you with it.

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Help us remember

Purity of Mind: Day 30 - Help us remember

Romans 3:24-25
God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous.  He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.  People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.

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The Shadowlands

Purity of Mind: Day 29 - The Shadowlands

Titus 1:2
My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end.  This is the life God promised long ago - and he doesn't break promises!

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A Thankful Attitude

Purity of Mind: Day 28 - A Thankful Attitude

Psalm 138:1-3
Thank you! Everything in me says "Thank you!" Angels listen as I sing my thanks.  I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again:  "Thank you!"  Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; most holy is your name, most holy is your Word.  the moment i called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength.

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Dreaming of Heaven

Purity of Mind: Day 27 - Dreaming of Heaven

1 Peter 1:3-5
Beacuse Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven and the future starts now!  God is keeping careful watch over us and the future.  The Day is coming when you'll have it all - life healed and whole.

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