Manna for Your Morning

For it wasn’t that long ago that we behaved foolishly in our stubborn disobedience. We were easily led astray as slaves to worldly passions and pleasures. We wasted our lives in doing evil, and with hateful jealousy we hated others. — Titus 3:3 (TPT) Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!  (2 Corinthians 5:17 MSG) Twenty-nine years ago, I became a new creation in Christ, the old things passed away and all things became new. No longer a prisoner of my past, but a child of God with a glorious future. Praise God for Jesus Christ, the giver of new life! When the extraordinary compassion of God our Savior and his overpowering love suddenly appeared in person, as the brightness of a dawning day, he came to save us. Not because of any virtuous deed that we have done but only because of his extravagant mercy. He saved us, resurrecting us through the washing of rebirth. We...

...He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” — John 11:43-44 (NKJV) When Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, his grave clothes still needed to be removed. Jesus has called us to come forth, out of the darkness and into the light of life. (John 8:12) We no longer need to be wrapped up in dead things. Things that do not lead to the abundant life Jesus came to give us. We have been called into a living hope. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3 NASB). Psalm 84:2b says, “my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Psalm 42:2 says, “my soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Be loosed of dead things. Jesus is the living bread (John 6:51) Whoev...

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:3 (NLT) Today, I celebrate the single most important, life-changing event of my life. Twenty-one years ago, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and God wrote my name in the Book of Life. During the ignorance of my college years, I was an atheist, but on December 5, 1989, in a small trailer in Fallbrook, California, God opened my eyes to see the Light. Oh what a happy day! Jesus took my burdens and set me free. He replaced my loneliness and pain with joy and the companionship of His Holy Spirit. He took my emptiness and filled my life with love, hope and purpose. I told my sad story to two co-workers who cared enough to listen and they told me about the love, forgiveness and eternal life Jesus offers. Never fail to plant the seeds of the Good News about Jesus and God will cause them to grow.